Alone
by Princess Alexandria
Summary: Set during and after the ep Generations. Demona finds a human teenager that starts to break down the walls around her heart. not a romance.
1. Default Chapter

Alone 

By Princess Alexandria

Princess_alex24@hotmail.com

"Look, you need to be quiet and practically invisible.  My boss isn't going to like you being here." Candace told the teenage girl as they rode the elevator to the top floor of the NightStone building.  She studied her daughter's appearance and hoped that it wouldn't draw too much attention to her.  She'd managed to get Brenna to wear something more professional looking, black slacks and a blue button up shirt without any arguments, but the girls hair was far from professional, with the shaved areas above her ears and it being parted in a way that showed that off.  The girl normally wore nothing but jeans, but she knew this day at NightStone wasn't going to be easy.  Candace had told enough stories about her boss' lack of patience that Brenna looked properly cautious.  

"Well, you could have left me at home."  Brenna sighed while watching the floor readout as they got closer to her work.  "I wouldn't get into trouble and you know it."

"Well, that is what I thought before you got suspended for fighting."  Candace hissed at the girl.  "Defending those beasts isn't your job."  Brenna glared at her but the elevator door opened and she just angrily marched after her mother to the office.

"Look no one is in the meeting room."   Candace looked around a bit nervously.  "Why don't you go in there and work on your homework."  She didn't want Ms. Destine to see the girl before she had a chance to explain.  Brenna went into the large boardroom and set out her books on the table.  Candace almost told her to get out of Ms. Destine's seat, but just shook her head and left.  She was lucky the girl wasn't arguing with her about the gargoyles, she wouldn't push it now.

Candace sat at her desk and started to work, but she felt increasingly uneasy about the fact that she'd brought Brenna to work.  The teenager had gotten to be more of a problem ever since the gargoyles were discovered, and Ms. Destine was going to be very unhappy if she discovered the girl.  Candace would have left Brenna home alone, but the angry looking Quarrymen that came to pick up the girl Brenna had hit made Candace worried about doing that.  She didn't want to scare her daughter, but she wasn't sure that they were safe at home right now.  The principal was also pretty hostile about the whole thing, giving Brenna what was sure to be the longest suspension for a first offense ever.  The girl was given her homework for two weeks, but would fail her science class because of missed labs.

********

Brenna glared at the blank sheet of paper in front of her.  The meeting room was so quiet it sounded like a tomb.  First things first, she pulled out her CD player and put it on.  She couldn't study in this silence.

Her ass of a principal wanted her to write a paper about the gargoyle problem.  He had to be a not so closeted Quarryman, because once Tina told him why Brenna hit her he'd looked like he wanted to hit Brenna himself.  Stupid ignorant asses.  He'd given Brenna all sorts of pamphlets to help with her paper, crap about how gargoyles stole children and attacked innocent people.  

"God Angela would be sick if she read this crap."  Brenna muttered to herself as she looked at the propaganda.  She couldn't write this paper.  It was just wrong, and she wasn't going to sell out like that.  A gargoyle female had rescued Brenna from a few thugs shortly before they were exposed on T.V. and the female had talked to Brenna.  She was no monster.  She even helped Brenna pick up her textbooks that fell out of her bag during the men's attack and recognized the book Brenna had to read for English class.  Gargoyles talked, read, had opinions on authors and Angela had trailed after Brenna to make sure she got home okay.  Brenna wasn't supposed to be out that late so she couldn't tell her mother about it when she got home from a date.  Perhaps if she could have her mother wouldn't be so terrified of gargoyles now.

"That's it."  Brenna started to smile.  She'd write a completely different paper about gargoyles and she'd hand them out like the Quarrymen handed out their crap.  It's the least she could do to thank Angela for helping her out.  With a slightly evil grin Brenna started to outline her paper.  She'd even go to the library for references so that Principal Smyth couldn't claim she didn't work hard enough on it.

********

Dominique Destine had a small smile on her lips, which obviously unsettled her employees as she rode the elevator up to her offices.  Things with Angela were going very well.  Having created a common enemy gave them some reason to spend time together and Demona was finding that on top of loving her daughter she actually liked her as well.  That was something that was hard to discover when she was almost never in contact with the young female.  It made Demona even more certain that she was doing the right thing.  Goliath's blind trust of humanity would get their bright and beautiful daughter killed.  He couldn't be allowed to continue to lead the clan.  He didn't know what he was doing.  The Quarrymen's mere existence proved Demona was right about humanity, and yet with that obvious hatred he still continued to patrol and risk Angela's life.  No, it was time for the clan to have a leader that understood about human treachery.

She didn't see Candace at her desk so she would have to get her own coffee.  When she opened the door to the meeting room where the coffee maker was kept her eyes widened as she watched the back of a young human female.  A human sitting in Demona's seat listening to music so loudly that Demona could hear it coming out the girls headphones.  What was a child doing in her offices?!

Marching over to stand behind the girl she glared down at the dark haired young human and then took in the papers spread out all over her meeting table.  A slight growl entered her throat as she glanced at the Quarrymen pamphlets laying out.  She was about to yell loudly to get the human's attention, but then she noticed what the girl was working on.  

The outline of a paper was laid out above the page the girl was writing on and Demona's eyes widened to see any human working on such a project.  The papers title was "The Human Problem."  And underneath that the girl had listed several points that Demona had to agree with.  Bigotry and the gargoyles.  History of Humans killing off other species blindly.  Witch hunts.  Panic and Hysteria.  And finally why humans shouldn't be allowed to rule the world.  The sheet that the girl was writing on had a first sentence that made Demona want to read more.  It started with… "I met Angela in October.  The gargoyle was like her namesake, an Angel swooping down to save me when I needed it most.  Given the reaction of most humans to her kind, I have to wonder why she bothers, but I know I'm grateful she did."  It continued to outline the probably mugging the girl was going to experience and Angela's rescue.  

The girl at Demona's meeting table was so involved in her task that she didn't notice the redhead standing behind her.  Finally Demona shook off her shock at finding a human writing about her daughter and spoke.  "Who are you and what are you doing here!"  The girl's body gave a satisfying jerk of shock and fear at Demona's loud voice before turning to look at Demona with wide eyes.

"I'm Brenna."  The girl fumbled to turn off her music.  Her voice was a bit high pitched and panicked.  "Candace's daughter."

"And what are you doing here?"  Demona glared at the girl.  The look had been known to make her grown male employees squirm in fear.

"Ah…"  The girl seemed to be paling.  "I…"

"Aren't you little monsters supposed to be in school?"

"I was suspended.  Mom brought me here."  Demona narrowed her eyes at the girl.  Normally she wouldn't give a damn about the reasons, but this little human was writing about Angela.  It couldn't hurt to know more.  At least this girl had the proper amount of fear.

"What were you suspended for?  Drugs?"  Demona sneered at the girl and noticed the insulted look cross the girls face.

"No.  I beat up a girl saying shit about gargoyles and my Principals a bigoted asshole."  Brenna growled at her.  Demona's eyes narrowed at the girls attitude before glancing at the papers in front of the girl.

"So this paper you're working on?"  The girls Principal probably wasn't looking for a paper like this if what the girl said was true.  Demona almost had to grin at the fight this little human had in her.  

"Gargoyle's have more of a right to survive than we do."  The girl glared at her, but Demona let that slide hoping that the girl would say more.  "You don't see them doing all the crap humans do.  If anyone should be hunted down it's the Quarrymen."  It sounded like the girl was getting ready to get on a soapbox and it was almost entertaining to hear a human saying what Demona had been saying for centuries.

"Ms. Destine."  Candace's gasp of shock from the doorway drew Demona's attention.  Her secretary really shouldn't have brought her child to work and from the look on Candace's face she knew it.

********

Candace was pale when she left Ms. Destine's office.  After the lecture where she was certain the NightStone C.E.O. was getting ready to fire her, Ms. Destine just told  her that Brenna had better stay out of the way or she would have to leave.  She had also said that while the girl was staying there she would be expected to work.  Brenna had a part time job until her suspension was over.  Candace wasn't sure whether she should be relieved or frightened by Ms. Destine's willingness to have Brenna around.  The woman wasn't a very kind person.

Brenna was going to be the youngest Nightstone employee ever.  She'd just turned fifteen, so it was legal to hire her as a file clerk.  Candace forced herself to think on the bright side.  This was a good first job for the girl, and she was sure Brenna would appreciate it since she'd been having trouble finding work at something other than a fast food place.  Brenna didn't want to work in all that grease.

They were going to have to go shopping tonight.  Brenna only had the one outfit suitable for work and she'd need a few more.

********

Demona watched her secretary's stunned and frightened expression as she left and grinned.  They had hired temps for the filing and they were so incompetent that perhaps a child would do a better job.  It also gave Demona more time to hear about Angela from this little human.  If this girl had met Angela, she might be useful to have around.  It could impress her daughter if she found out she'd helped this little human out.

Well, enough of that.  She needed to contact the human she'd hired to kill Goliath and finalize some more plans.  She was going to show Angela one of her homes soon, one that she wouldn't mind getting trashed when were attacked.  Someday, maybe someday soon, she'd be able to trust her daughter with her mansions location.  The clan might even move in there.  They shouldn't be trusting Xanatos of all people to keep them safe during the day.

It was going to be nice to not be alone anymore.

********

Brenna felt very nervous as she rode up the elevator to her first day at work.  Her mother had her remove several of her earring piercings, leaving just one on each ear.  It was unbelievable that Ms. Destine would just hire her.  No one wanted to hire her.  This was so great, but the stories her mother used to tell during dinner about how angry Ms. Destine would get when her employees screwed up haunted her now.  Brenna was terrified that she'd misfile something important and get both her and her mother in trouble.

She worked carefully and a bit more slowly than she could just to make sure that she made no mistakes.  It was almost lunchtime before anyone else came into the back room that held the files and Brenna was so involved in hunting down the right file that she didn't notice the redheaded C.E.O. standing there watching her until she spoke.

"I want you to go pick up my lunch."  Ms. Destine said in a commanding voice.  

"I don't drive."  Brenna answered as she closed the file drawer.  She nibbled on her lip a bit nervously.

"Luigi's is just down the block.  They won't deliver, so you need to go get it."  Ms. Destine handed Brenna a twenty dollar bill.  "I expect you back by noon."  Brenna turned to the clock and her eyes widened.  It was almost noon now.  If she ran both ways she might, might make it.

********

Demona went back to her secret office after locking her main office door and pulled up the security camera's for the building on the screens.  An amused smiled came to her face as she watched the wide eyed young girl dodging mail carts on her way to the elevator.  She had decent reflexes and could run pretty fast.  It wouldn't matter how fast Brenna ran, she'd never get back before noon.  She broke in all her new employees this way.  This girls age wasn't going to get her any breaks.  Once she failed in her task Brenna would get a yelling at that would ensure Brenna feared Ms. Destine properly.

********

Brenna almost growled when it felt like people were purposely moving in her way as she tried to make it down the sidewalk as fast as she could.  She couldn't even run, because of all the people on their way to lunch.  It was like a sidewalk traffic jam.  She used her smaller size to her best advantage and dodged between people as quickly as she could.

Once she got into Luigi's her heart sank as she noticed the long lines.  "Oh God, Ms. Destine's gonna kill me."  She muttered to herself with a bit of panic as she got in line.  She would have had time if she didn't need to wait.

"Ms. Destine?"  The man next to her turned to look at her.  "You're getting Ms. Destine's lunch?"

"Yes."  Brenna barely glanced at him.

"Tom.  This girl is getting Ms. Destine's lunch."  He turned to the man next to him, before turning back to her again.  "She give you a time limit?"

"Yeah."  She gave him a pleading look, not sure if he could help her or not, but he seemed to understand.

"Dammit, can't believe she's doing this to a kid."  Brenna would have objected to being called a kid but Tom's voice rose louder.  "This girl has to get Ms. Destine's lunch to her fast."

The crowd all turned to look at her and suddenly Brenna noticed how many NightStone name tags were there.  The woman at the front of the line stepped back and no one objected, some even encouraged her to take that space.

"I'm here for Ms. Destine's lunch."  Her voice sounded much younger than normal.  The strange behavior and whispers of the people waiting to pick up their own orders made her a bit nervous.

"It's right here."  The cashier pulled a bag forward and started to ring it up.  Once that was done Brenna turned to leave.

"Run and take the third elevator back up.  It's Ms. Destine's and fewer people use it.  It'll move faster."  Tom called out to her as she reached the doors.

She was panting as she raced into the elevator with someone else.  She hit the top floor and the woman in the elevator with her took one look at her and the large tag on the lunch with Ms. Destine's name on it and stepped back without hitting a button.  "I can take the time to take a ride up.  Wouldn't want to slow you down."

She knocked on Ms. Destine's office door at 11:57 am.  The look on Ms. Destine's face when she opened it to find Brenna with her lunch was almost enough to make Brenna smile.  She'd surprised her.

"Get back to work."  Ms. Destine grumbled at her before closing the door again.  When Brenna turned to do that she noticed her mother's slight smile.

"Good job."  Candace whispered.

********

It was a little after three when Demona decided to get more coffee.  Candace was busy making copies of a memo and Demona wanted to sneak a peek at what the young human was doing.  Brenna couldn't work full time so she was in the conference room working on homework.  Demona entered quietly and moved to get her coffee while glancing at the girl obviously very involved in taking notes out of a history book.  Demona crept closer to take a peek at those notes and had to grin at the girls flowery handwritten notes about the humans tendency to kill first and ask questions later, like they did with the Native Americans.  She was drawing parallels between the propaganda during that time and what the Quarrymen were spreading about the gargoyles.  Oh, this girl was clever.  She'd never be allowed back into her school with this paper.  She'd heard it was supposed to be a paper about the gargoyle threat and that wasn't at all what Brenna was working on.  

"Boy, this crap sure makes you ashamed to be human."  Brenna muttered to herself.  She couldn't hear anything over her headphones so Demona was sure that the girl was talking to herself.  Well, at least the little human was learning something valuable.  Demona grimaced and turned to leave.  She still had a lot of reports to go over before tomorrow.

Things with Angela were going more slowly than she'd prefer, but she wasn't going to rush it.  This had to be done carefully.  Still that game of tag last night had been more fun than Demona remembered having in a long time. 

********

Brenna was on lunch run again and was surprised at how quickly the mail clerks were getting out of her way as she dashed towards the elevators to go back to Luigi's.  Ms. Destine had given her short notice again and sent her off with a time limit.  Once she got to the restaurant she didn't even need to speak.  The crowd parted for her and let her go first.  Brenna noticed Tom nod at her and then pull out his cell phone.

Once she got back to the NightStone lobby she noticed the woman that had been in the elevator with her the day before.  "I'm Alice."  The woman smiled.  She'd been in the elevator holding the button to keep the door opened when she got there and hit the top floor for Brenna once she was in.  "I feel like another ride to the top floor."  Alice smiled at her conspiratorially.  

Once she was on the top floor she heard a guy calling out down the hall.  "Get those carts out of the way."  She noticed him smile at her and she glanced at Patrick's nametag.  It was like the entire building was working with her to foil Ms. Destine's plans.  

Brenna made it to Ms. Destine's office by 11:55am with a huge grin on her face.  Once she was rudely dismissed again she turned to whisper to her mother.  "Ms. Destine zero, Brenna two."

********

"This is a little advanced for your age isn't it?"  Demona asked while looking over Brenna's shoulder at her homework.  The girl was still working hard on the paper that was bound to be several pages long.  The girl gasped in shock once she realized she wasn't alone.  The connections that Brenna was making about history and the current situation seemed like something that a college student might be challenged to make.  It was almost a shame that all of Brenna's hard work would only result in more punishment and ridicule for her, but the girl had to know that was what she was setting herself up for.  Why was she working so hard on a paper that would probably get her expelled?

The girl blushed as she looked up at her.  "Um… I'm a bit of a nerd."

"What does that mean?"  Demona asked with a touch of her impatience.  

"I score really high on tests.  They say I'm gifted."

"So you're a genius?"

"No, if I were a genius I'd be better at math and science."  Brenna grimaced.  She didn't seem to like being called that.  "I have a really hard time with those."  Brenna sighed.  She seemed honestly embarrassed, as if having intelligence was a burden.  "They wanted me to go to a special school, but mom couldn't afford it."

"What kind of school."  Demona wasn't sure why she was even asking, but this girl was a real puzzle, and Demona hadn't had any real contact with young humans in a very long time.

"A school for gifted kids.  They had harder classes and would have looked good on my college applications."  Brenna's nervous fiddling with her pencil was annoying.  Demona glared at the hand doing that until it stopped.  "But I'm doing okay in these classes.  I get A's really easy… well except for science.  I'm gonna fail that because I'm missing too many labs."

"So the only reason your failing is because of this unfair suspension?"  Demona glanced at the research Brenna was doing on the witch trials.  This was a perfect example of humans inability to watch out for their own young.  This girl obviously was much more intelligent than the other kids, and they tossed her out of school.

"Yeah, and now I'll probably have to go to summer school to make it up."  Brenna grumbled.  "You have to pay for summer school."

"This paper isn't what you were supposed to do."  Demona waved her hand at the books that Brenna was studying.  "They aren't going to take it well."

"Well, I'm not gonna sell out."  Brenna rose her chin defiantly.  "They are wrong."

"You could end up losing more time at school.  You could fail more classes."

Brenna's chin fell at that.  "I owe her."  She sounded suddenly as young as she truly was.  "A gargoyle saved me… and I can't let people talk about her like this."  Demona nodded as if she understood, but she didn't.  "I'm gonna give this paper to the P.I.T. people.  They can distribute it or something.  If more people realized how nice they were, maybe this mess would stop."

"Do you really believe that?"  Demona snapped at the girl.  She'd seemed intelligent, but this foolish dream was irritating.

Brenna sighed.  "Not really."  She whispered.  "Maybe some people will change, but those Quarrymen… nothing short of jail will stop them."

"So you are putting your neck out there to write this, plan to distribute it, and you don't think it will help much."  Demona spoke quickly.  "You are spending hours every day working on this.  Why not just write the paper that your Principal wants?"

"That's what mom said."  Brenna's hand clenched around her pencil.  "but this is important.  If people had fought back during the witch hunts or when the settlers were attacking the Native Americans maybe fewer people would have died.  Wrong is just wrong and I can't pretend it's okay to hurt them just so that I can go back to school."

"You're a strange little human."  Demona muttered to herself but it wasn't quiet enough.  Brenna grinned at her.  Brenna was starting to remind Demona of Angela with her impassioned arguments.

********

Brenna was surprised when Ms. Destine didn't send her out for lunch the next day.  She'd been looking forward to the contest, which was how she'd started to see that.  She even brought her tennis shoes and changed into them at 11:30 to prepare.

Today Ms. Destine had marched past everyone without saying a word and locked herself in her office claiming she didn't want to be disturbed.  The air of angry menace around her was scary and the woman hadn't even looked at Brenna that morning.  Still Brenna was surprised that Ms. Destine wasn't feeling up to tormenting her for lunch.

When one o'clock came and there was still no call for lunch Brenna stared at the door.  She only worked until one and then did homework.  Her mother was busy working on something.

Brenna decided to go out to get something to eat and used her allowance money to do it.  She found herself outside of Luigi's as the lunch crowd was dying down.

"Well, what can we get you."  The cashier that usually rang up her orders for Ms. Destine was there.

"I'll have a number 7."  Brenna glanced at the menu and bit her lip in indecision.  "What does Ms. Destine normally order?"  She'd never actually seen it since the bosses lunch was normally wrapped up when she came to get it.  The woman hadn't eaten yet.

"She got the number 9 yesterday."  He sounded a bit confused.

"I'll get one of those too."  Brenna made the decision and nodded.  If the woman wasn't hungry Brenna could reheat it for tomorrow.  There was just something off about Ms. Destine today, she seemed a bit depressed when she ventured out to get coffee early today.

She was able to walk and not run back to the office today.  It was actually a nice walk that way.  She walked past her mother and was relieved that she was moving to the copy room.  Brenna was sure to be told not to bother Ms. Destine if her mother had caught her.  Brenna reached up and knocked with a grimace on her face.  She'd seen Ms. Destine yell at other people.

"What?!"  Ms. Destine opened the door and actually looked surprised to see Brenna standing there with a bag.

"I… uh…"  Brenna held up the bag to help explain herself.  The cashier had packed her lunch and Ms. Destine's separately so that Brenna could just drop this off and run.  "You haven't eaten yet."  She spoke meekly, hoping to avoid any anger being sent in her direction.  She reached out to give Ms. Destine the bag.

"I suppose you want your money."  Ms. Destine sounded a bit cool, but there was no obvious anger.  She opened the office door wider and walked to her desk, making Brenna think she was supposed to follow her in, so she did.

The office was large and had a good view of the city.  Brenna stood still and tried not to fidget as Ms. Destine pulled out her wallet to get some money.  Brenna just nodded a thank you when she took the cash and put it in her pocket.

"Brenna?"  Ms. Destine stared into her eyes and it made Brenna a bit nervous.  "You still working on your paper?"

"Yeah."

"Look up the Holocaust.  That was another example of humans intolerance and the monstrosities they are capable of doing against their own people."

"I was thinking of doing that, but there is so much in the library about it that I didn't know where to start."  Brenna felt a little calmer.  Ms. Destine actually had an interest in her research.  Brenna's own mother merely tolerated her doing the paper.  It was kinda nice that such an important woman noticed what she was doing.  She left to have her lunch and do more homework.

********

Angela had found out about her plans last night and everything fell apart.  She should have expected that human to betray her, but she really thought she'd paid him enough to keep that from happening.  That was foolish of her. 

She was surprised at how much Angela's words hurt.  Her daughter really didn't understand that Demona was doing it all for them.  Goliath was blinded by his hope, and it really would get them all killed.  All her effort, all her caring, and she was still alone.

With a heavy sigh Demona unpacked the lunch that Brenna had brought her.  She hadn't even realized she was hungry until the girl brought it.  She hadn't eaten since last night.

********

Brenna was surprised to feel a little disappointed that it was Friday.  Normally she'd be in school and feeling very grateful that she didn't have to go for a few days, but working here was almost fun in comparison.  Between that and the research she was doing she felt like she was actually doing something with her days, rather than just putting in her hours at school and trying to not stick out too much.

"Your incompetence is outstanding!"  Ms. Destine's voice carried easily into the file room and Brenna felt like hiding in case the woman walked this way after she was done with whoever was getting yelled at now.  Ms. Destine seemed to be on the warpath today and it took very little for anyone to set her off.  "Perhaps I should replace you with another teenager.  They seem to work ten times as hard as you do."  Brenna swallowed her shock and froze in place.  The woman's voice got a little quieter, so that Brenna knew the lecture was still in action, but couldn't make out any of the words.

Brenna got back to work, paying even more attention to what she was doing.  It was a shock to hear Ms. Destine thought she worked hard and she didn't want to lose that.

A half hour later Brenna looked up to see the NightStone C.E.O staring at her from the doorway.  Something in the woman's eyes was a bit unsettling.  "I've decided to have a sandwich today.  The deli is two blocks away.  You better get going, you only have until noon."  The redheads voice clearly carried her challenge.  Brenna took the money being held out to her and went to grab her coat.  She wasn't going to be able to make it this time and she knew it.  The deli was further away and Ms. Destine didn't give her any more time than normal.

********

Demona went to her office and watched the monitors with little expression on her face.  Brenna wasn't going to be able to pull a miracle today but she watched the girl try desperately to do just that.  The teen ran like the hounds of hell were on her tail as she darted down the hallway to the elevators and Demona watched as Alice from accounting just stared after the girl with a bit of pity on her face.

She changed the monitor to the elevator car and watched as Brenna impatiently pushed the button for the lobby.  Just before the door closed the man Demona had just yelled at leapt in the car and pushed a floor.  Brenna was nibbling on her lip and Demona watched as Denis insincerely said something that she couldn't make out and hit the button for another floor.  He was purposely slowing Brenna down, it was clear in his smug grin when the girl looked away.  Demona's fist clenched as she watched him stand still while the car stopped at one floor waiting for the doors to close again before going down the next floor for him to get out.

Brenna's face became very determined as the car continued down the lobby and Demona watched the girl dodge all the other people in the lobby with almost a warriors intent as she headed for the front doors.  Demona moved to the windows of her office and glanced down at the crowds on the sidewalk.  She couldn't see much detail but the smaller figure dodging through the crowds as fast as she could was hard to miss.  Demona almost wished she had cameras on the streets so she could see if Brenna's determination lasted all the way to the deli.  She also wished she could see the look on the girls face when she realized that Demona hadn't called in the order early enough for it to be ready when she got there.  It really wouldn't matter how fast the girl ran, she wasn't going to get back before noon.

********

Brenna was sweating a bit when she finally got to the deli and the long pick up line made her heart sink.  There was no Tom to help her today.  She'd seen him at Luigi's as she ran past.  Ms. Destine was already in a bad mood, it was really a bad day to be late.  Brenna bounced on her feet impatiently as the line slowly moved.  Her eyes kept moving to the clock over the register as she watched the seconds tick by.  Even if she left right now, without the food she couldn't make it.  She'd lost.  Ms. Destine knew that she would when she sent Brenna out.  That was what that look was about.

What should she do?  Brenna bounced her fist against her lips lightly as she tried to think.  She took a few deep breaths, as her progression to the front of the line seemed to be happening in slow motion.

********

Demona looked up again when she saw the blue of the girl's jacket enter the lobby and frowned.  Brenna was late, but then that had been the plan.  Demona left her secret office to return to the public one so that she was ready to do this.  Her eyebrows drew together as she realized she wasn't really looking forward to putting this human in her place like she normally would.  She couldn't help but remember Denis slowing Brenna down on purpose.  He'd known what would happen if Brenna were late and he'd done that to a child.  

The tentative knock on her opened office door had Demona sitting up straighter in her chair.  "Come in."  She watched the girl, pale from the cold and obviously tired from her run slowly creep into her office with the bag.  Brenna moved forward and put it on the desk, almost as if she expected to be bit when she got close enough but had to do it.

"I got you a cheesecake."  The girl spoke softly and Demona watched Brenna seem to try and prepare herself for the yelling that Demona had been planning to give Brenna all week, just as soon as the girl missed a deadline or screwed up.  The child was trying to bribe her way out of this confrontation.  One of Demona's eyebrows rose as she regarded the nervous looking girl.  Brenna had been sent on an impossible task and the girl was bright enough to realize that.  She wasn't making excuses, or explaining how the deli didn't have the sandwich ready when she got there.  Brenna was just standing there quietly looking so much like a frightened puppy.

"Cheesecake?"

"Um.. yeah, New York Cheesecake."  Brenna spoke quickly while nibbling on her lip.

Demona sighed and glanced over at her clock that clearly read ten after the hour.  Brenna fidgeted when she did that but didn't say anything.  "Get back to work."  Demona spoke quietly as she reached out for the bag.  Brenna just nodded a bit nervously and left.  Right before the girl left Demona spoke again.  "Thank you."  Brenna gave her a shy smile and left.

Once the girl closed the door behind her Demona pulled out the cheesecake and just stared at it.  Bribery.  She'd had employees, usually her hired thugs, try to appease her with that sort of thing before.  Usually it was guns or more interesting items.  This was the first time someone tried to influence her temper with cheesecake.  She hated cheesecake.

********

Brenna tried to ignore her growling stomach as she studied.  She'd spent the last of her money on the cheesecake.  It was pretty expensive at that deli.  Once her mother came in to get her so they could leave Brenna realized that she hadn't seen Ms. Destine again that day.  She glanced at the woman's closed door as she put on her jacket.  There was something about Ms. Destine's eyes today when Brenna was in her office.  Brenna just shook her head and followed her mother out the office so that they could lock it up.  

On the way down the elevator Brenna noticed her mother giving her a strange smile.  "You've been really amazing this week.  I'm proud of you."

Brenna smiled back at her.  "I wish I didn't have to quit."

Brenna noticed that surprised her mother but the woman just covered that up quickly.  "Well, you need to get back in school."  The tone changed to a slight lecture and Brenna sighed at the end of their brief normal conversation.  That wasn't at all what she'd meant by saying she wished she could stay, but arguing wouldn't help.

"I know."  It wasn't like she learned anything at that school anyhow, but she had to go.  Too bad she couldn't make enough money working here to pay for the other school.  She'd taken a tour of it once, and it was everything a school should be.  She would have been happy there, instead of being treated like a freak if anyone noticed her at all.  The other kids resented how easy it was for her.  It didn't take Brenna long to learn just how much work to put in so that she didn't show anyone up too badly.  If the teachers gushed about her work it only got worse with the cold shoulders and glares.

********

Demona tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear as she rode the elevator up to the top floor Monday morning.  The weekend at home was long and very irritating.  She was glad to be back at work.  The empty house seemed to mock her.  She'd expected to have at least her daughter for company this weekend, but that hadn't happened.  Her fists clenched as she replayed the last words she'd heard Angela say before leaving the building.  It would take a lot to repair the damage done and for once Demona regretted that she'd even come up with the plan.  If she hadn't… if that human hadn't spilled her entire plan Demona would still have at least the possibility of her daughter, but now… she had no one.  She'd had no one for almost a thousand years, but knowing she had a daughter and couldn't…  Demona sighed and stood taller.  It wouldn't do any good to go over the past like this.  She needed to make plans for the future.

She was at work a bit earlier than normal and when Candace wasn't at her desk Demona went straight for the coffee.  Brenna was sitting at the meeting table with a newspaper spread out before her and scissors in her hands.

"That better not be my paper."  Demona spoke as soon as she saw the girls scissors start to move.  Brenna stopped what she was doing and turned to look at her.

"Ah.. no I got this one on the way into work."

"Why are you cutting it up?"

"I have to find articles for my current world issues class."  Demona just stepped closer to see what Brenna had chosen and felt a grin start, which she quickly suppressed.

"Castaway's arrest?  Interesting choice."

Brenna grinned.  "I hope that maniac has to do lots of time."

"Yes, well… make sure you start work on time."  Demona turned with her coffee in hand and headed out the door.  The girl still had a little while before her shift started. 

Demona had a meeting scheduled for that afternoon, so she went to prepare.  But first she wanted to find her newspaper and read that article.  Castaway wasn't fooling her, he was the hunter.  Surprisingly this hunter had traded in his obsession with hunting Demona to go after Goliath and the clan.  He knew where she was and hadn't made a move against her yet, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't.  Perhaps an accident could be arranged to deal with Jon Castaway.

********

Brenna finished work and then didn't know what to do with herself.  The place she normally hung out was occupied and she could hear Ms. Destine's voice rising behind the door.  She wouldn't want to be in there right now anyhow.  Unfortunately her mother was in there taking notes.

Brenna sighed as she sat in her mother's seat and stared out the window.  She thought about Ms. Destine's comment about the Holocaust and decided that she would go to the library.  It wasn't too far from work.  She quickly scribbled out a note and taped it to her mother's monitor.  She could return the books she'd already used and get more information.  Castaway was almost like a Hitler in her opinion, so a little compare and contrast with that would be fitting.  She finally knew where to start on that topic.

********

Candace sat while all the department heads left and busied herself with organizing the notes she'd taken during the meeting.  Ms. Destine hadn't dismissed her yet and she knew better than to move to leave until she had.  Sometimes the volatile redhead wanted to dictate more notes after the meeting of things she wanted to do, like surprise inspections for any department that she wasn't pleased with during the meeting.  Candace assumed that must be the case when Ms. Destine just continued to study the reports she'd been given and didn't say anything.

"I want to do an inspection of the Project 347 research facility."  Ms. Destine stated without even looking up.  Candace covered her surprise easily.  That project was high security and hadn't been in this meeting to draw attention to itself.  "That's all.  You're dismissed."

Once Candace was out of the meeting room she glanced around for Brenna and didn't see her.  The note taped to the middle of her monitor was hard to miss.  The girl had gone to the library again.  Candace sighed.  Brenna really spent too much time there.  She should make friends and do something more normal, like go to the mall or have slumber parties.

********

Demona glanced around the main office and it took her a moment to realize what she was looking for.  Where was that child?  She grimaced at that thought and she marched into her office.  It was none of her concern if Candace couldn't keep track of her offspring.

Her office door was open so it wasn't hard to hear the sounds of books falling to the ground.  "Well, at least I made it here first."  Brenna grumbled.

"Brenna, I'm not sure you should be reading things like this."  Candace's voice sounded a bit stern.  Demona got up to wander to the doorway and see what it was that Brenna had gotten into now.  It was just curiosity.  "They'll give you nightmares."

No one noticed the Nightstone C.E.O. watching the family drama being enacted in her main office through the cracked open door.  If she didn't want to see how this played out she would have interrupted it right then.  This was a place of work after all.  Brenna's paper bag full of books had broken spilling history books all over the middle of the floor.  Dark eyes of concentration camp inmates stared from the cover of some books.  There were also books about the KKK that had hooded figures on the cover.  Candace was looking down at the pile with a little bit of concern while Brenna worked to quickly pick up the mess.

"Mom, I need these for my paper."

"Don't talk to me like that young lady."  Candace's response was just a little heated and Demona didn't really understand why.  Sure the girl sounded just a little exasperated, but not anything truly disrespectful.  "That paper you spend all this time on is just going to cause you trouble.  You should at least do another paper the way Principal Smyth wanted.  Turn that one in."

Brenna set a pile of books on the table and Demona could easily see the tension in the girls back.  "I told you why I have to do this."

"Well, I'm sure that Angela wouldn't think your disobeying your Principal would do any good.  If that is what that creature taught you…"

Demona's teeth clenched at the derision in her secretary's voice.  That was HER daughter they were talking about!

"She's not a creature."  Brenna hissed out quietly.  "and I'm not gonna write that paper."

"Well she's hardly human."  Candace spoke just as angrily, but kept it down, probably thinking that Demona wouldn't hear the argument that way.  

"Like that's a bad thing."  Brenna grumbled quietly and Demona smirked.  Brenna's mother hadn't caught that little comment.  The girl's voice got a bit louder so that her mother would hear the next words.  "Well, they did try that clan leader in a court.  So that means that legally he was recognized as a sentient entity if he could be tried for a crime."  Demona's eyes widened a little at the girls perceptiveness and clever response.  She doubted the legal system that was so eager to get the case would have done so if they realized the precedent they'd set.  She doubted if many of the lawyers involved in the case even realized what they'd done when they agreed to try Goliath like a human.

"Don't get smart with me Brenna." 

"No, I can't get smart with anyone."  Brenna slammed the second pile of books down on the table.  The phone on Candace's desk rang, effectively ending that conversation.  Demona watched how her secretary still managed to sound professional while glaring at her daughter.  Brenna just ignored Candace and worked to try and carry the books to the now vacant meeting room.  The girl's pile of books looked heavy for her, but she did it all in one trip.

Demona went back to her seat to try and work.  There were no further sounds of arguments from her office just the rapid and angry typing of her secretary.  

********

Brenna worked to put as many of the books as she could in her bookbag.  They weren't all going to fit, but knowing her mother seeing them out would just restart the argument.  It seemed like nothing she did lately was good enough.  She gritted her teeth as she tried to zip up the bag.  It wasn't fair.  She was working hard to make a difference.  She was standing up for what she believed in and was working harder on her schoolwork than she ever had to before and her mother just kept telling her to write that stupid paper.  Why couldn't she understand?!  If her Principal had given her a bunch of Ku Klux Klan handouts and told her she had to write a paper like those people were right her mother would never say she should just do what she'd been told so she could go to school.  This wasn't any different.

She took a shuddering breath and sat down heavily in the chair.  The flyer for the Holocaust exhibit sat on the table.  It wasn't going to be in town much longer and Brenna wanted to go.  It would be good research.  She sighed.  Her mother would never let her go alone and the woman had no interest in seeing something she considered so unpleasant.

"If your heavy flopping in my chair damages it I will take that out of your pay."  Ms. Destine's voice startled Brenna and she looked up to see the woman in the doorway.  The threat lacked the normal aggression that would make Brenna think it was real.  She nodded at her boss, but continued to sit in the woman's chair.

Ms. Destine wandered over to the table and looked at the covers of the few books that Brenna couldn't make fit in her bookbag.  "I see you took my advice about the Holocaust."

"Yeah."  Brenna glanced at the cover with Hitler on it.  "You ever notice that Castaway has a mustache just like Hitler?"  When she looked back up at her stern boss she could have sworn the woman was covering up a grin.

"You carried all those books on the subway?"  Ms. Destine wasn't making any motion towards the coffee maker.  She was just standing there talking with Brenna.  

"Yeah.  They got pretty heavy."  There was an awkward silence as the C.E.O. seemed to just stare at Brenna as if she didn't know what to say now.  "Did you study history?"  Brenna finally asked.  Ms. Destine seemed to know about it and had suggestions.  

"I've picked up some of it here and there." The slight smirk on the redhead's lips didn't make much sense.  The question wasn't funny.  She then reached out and took the flyer out of Brenna's hand.  "So what's this?"

"An exhibit I wanted to go to." 

"Wanted?"

"Mom isn't gonna want to go."  Brenna took the paper back from Ms. Destine and folded it up small enough to put in her pocket.  "My paper is due on Thursday anyway."  

"I heard your mother wanted to get off early to go to your school.  I assume you need that time off as well?"

Brenna's eyes widened.  "Oh, I'm sorry.  I forgot I'd need to ask."

"I noticed."  Ms. Destine just stared at her and Brenna started to squirm.  She'd gotten out of the yelling yesterday, but this was another screw up.  "Your mother already mentioned it, but as MY employee I expect you to deal with your own requests and such from now on."

"Okay."  Brenna nodded quickly, eager to not anger the woman.  After debating about it for a moment she spoke more quietly.  "Would you be willing to look at my paper?"

"I don't have time to read children's homework assignments."  Ms. Destine's snapping that out made Brenna cringe.  She looked down and didn't see the woman studying her.  "However, if you give it to me I might have time to read it over the weekend."

Brenna felt instantly better.  She smiled shyly.  "If you see anything that could use more work you could tell me?"

"I thought it was due on Thursday."

"But I still want to get a copy to the P.I.T."  Brenna nibbled on her lip nervously.  "I doubt I could find Angela again.  It's so dangerous out that she shouldn't be patrolling.  I wish I could give her a copy."

Ms. Destine sighed.  "I'm sure if enough of these get distributed someone will make sure she sees it."

********

Demona watched the girl follow her mother out the door.  She was staying late at work today, but her employees all knew better than to stay if they worked on this floor.  She'd finally get to see Brenna's story about Angela.  She'd been working on a way to get the girl to show her that part.  She hadn't expected Brenna to ask her to do it as if it were a favor.  It would also be interesting to see what the strange little human did for the rest of the paper.  Brenna had a unique way of thinking.

Brenna was right about one thing.  Angela shouldn't be patrolling with all the armed Quarrymen out there.  Even this child understood that and Goliath didn't.  

********

Demona noticed the girl glancing up from her work every few seconds like she was looking for someone.  The minute Brenna's eyes landed on her it was clear to the Nightstone C.E.O. that Brenna had been waiting for her to get into work.  Demona had come in a little later today because she started her day doing a surprise visit to Denis' project.  She'd found several things to complain about and warned the man that if he didn't straighten things up in a week he'd be fired.  

"Ms. Destine?"  Brenna's voice was a little low and Demona suspected it was so that the people in the lobby, like her mother, wouldn't hear her.  She walked over to the girl and watched as Brenna opened up a file drawer and pulled out a thick report.  "I made a copy for you."  Demona stared down at the cover page with "The Human Problem" in large print.  

"Thank you."  Demona managed to not chuckle.  In all the time that she'd considered humans a problem she never once felt the need to write an essay about it.  "Aren't you supposed to go to your school today?"

Brenna looked a bit pale.  Her brave face about turning in a paper like this was fading a bit.  "We're leaving in fifteen minutes."

"And you're going to give him a copy of this paper?"  Demona had to know if the girl had done like her mother asked and wrote another paper.

"Yeah."  Brenna sighed.

"If he doesn't let you back in school over an issue like this you have grounds to sue."  Demona wasn't sure why she felt the need to reassure the girl like that.  "Well, get back to work while I'm paying for your time."  She grumbled and turned to leave.

She had departmental reports sitting on her desk that she needed to read, but Demona found herself opening up Brenna's report instead.  She'd planned to wait until the weekend, but she was curious as to what a young human had to say about humans.  She could hear her secretary and the girl leaving the office shortly after she sat down.

The report was brilliant.  Demona stared at it again as it sat on her desk.  She wasn't familiar with how well High School aged humans wrote, but this had to be better.  Much better.  And this girl was fighting for the right to go back to the public schools?  She obviously could do better than that.  It was another example of the human's inability to nurture their own. 

"Ms. Destine?"  The hesitant voice at the doorway drew Demona's eyes up.  Tom from Human Resources.  She had a meeting with him, so this man must be the recently promoted HR Manager.

"Tom, come in."  Demona waved to a seat in front of her desk.  

********

"Look!"  Candace snapped and interrupted the little weasel man finally.  "You may not agree with my daughter's beliefs.  I know I'm not so sure about them, but Brenna worked damned hard on that report for you and I'm betting no teacher in this school has seen a better essay in their whole careers."  She glared at the pompous man that had the nerve to try and brow beat her daughter about her essay daring to make any connections between the way the Quarrymen behaved and the Third Reich or any of the many other colorful connections Brenna had made.  Candace was really wishing that she'd been able to talk Brenna into just doing what she was supposed to.

That female gargoyle had protected her.  Candace hadn't been pleased to hear that Brenna had been out that late without permission, but the girl had been at the library.  Candace didn't doubt Brenna when she said that at all.  Her daughter wasn't a troublemaker, and this man insinuating that her little girl was pissed her off.  He'd become reddened as he started to spout out hatred towards the gargoyles, make accusations about the girl being out so late, and making rude comments about Candace's parenting abilities if her daughter was out at night talking to beasts.

"Now, is my daughter back in school on Monday or do I have to take legal action?"  Candace glared at him.  She couldn't afford legal action, but hopefully the threat would be enough.  If Candace had enough money to sue this school, she'd just use that money to send Brenna to that other school.  She knew that her daughter was too smart for this school and it burned her that she couldn't give her more.  She wanted to be able to give Brenna the best she possibly could, but unfortunately with the bills she had and the cost of living in New York there wasn't enough money left to pay for high school.  She hoped Brenna could get a scholarship for college, because the college fund wasn't very healthy looking either.

Principal Smyth seemed to be reining in his temper and he finally spoke in a more normal tone of voice.  "I expect you to refrain from hitting any more students or I'll be forced to expel you."  He addressed Brenna, and the girl nodded.  "I mean it."  He growled.  "One more incident and I'll toss you out of here so fast you won't know what hit you."

"Too bad you don't apply that rule to the drug dealers and gang members you have going to this school."  Candace said coolly.  "Come on Brenna.  We're leaving."

********

Brenna was quiet as she walked to her mother's car.  Her mother took quick purposeful strides and didn't look back.  

When she got in the car Brenna quickly fastened her seatbelt and waited.  "I know you feel strongly about the gargoyles Brenna."  Brenna's mother's voice was much softer and calmer than Brenna expected it to be.  "But please don't start any more fights."

"I won't."  Brenna stared at the dash and tried to fight the tears in her eyes.  It had been scary just sitting there being yelled at like that.  She'd been so shocked and grateful when her mother stopped it.  That he could blame her mother for her being out like that upset her.  He'd even suggested that child protective services should look into their home.  That was crap.  Brenna was fifteen now, she'd been fourteen then but that was still old enough to be left home alone.

"I know I didn't read that essay, but from what he quoted I'd say it was pretty good."  Brenna glanced over to see her mother's weak smile.  "Maybe you could print me out a copy when we get home?"

"yeah.  I can do that."  Brenna felt the tears on her cheeks.  Her mother just reached out and wiped them away.

"Lets go out to dinner tonight for a change."  Candace smiled at her.  "You just finished a huge project.  We should celebrate."

********

Demona walked into the meeting room to get some coffee to start off the day and noticed Brenna once again cutting up a perfectly good newspaper.  "So are you back in school or did you join the ranks of the high school dropouts?"

"I start again Monday."  Brenna didn't look thrilled with that.  

"How did your paper get received?"  Demona had been wondering that ever since she knew for sure that Brenna would turn it in.

The girl's eyes met her own.  "Not too well.  He's a bigger dick.."  Demona's eyebrow rose and the girl blushed.  "Uh.. jerk, than I thought.  He was very offended, but mom yelled at him and he had to let me go back."  

"Well, good."  Demona paused as she thought of something.  "So I expect at least two weeks notice if you plan to quit."

"What?"  Brenna looked a bit stunned.  "But school starts Monday."

"Well, there is no reason you couldn't work after school.  You told me you don't have to try very hard to pass your classes so it isn't like you need that time to study."

"I'd only be able to work maybe two hours a day."  Brenna looked pretty confused.

"Well, then you would need to work faster, wouldn't you.  I still demand that my employees give me two weeks notice."

"So you'll let me work just a couple hours?"  Brenna's eyebrows drew together as she studied Demona.

"I am not letting you do anything.  You have a job here and I expect you to act like a professional.  If you plan to continue to work for me, then it is expected that any employee planning to quit gives two weeks notice."  Demona watched the young girl's grin start before turning to leave the room.  Brenna did a better job than the temps that they hired once a month to do catch up filing.  She'd keep the file room in order.  It just worked out better for the company this way.  

********

Candace was going to walk back to the meeting room and see if Brenna wanted a Pepsi since she was going to get herself one out of the machine.  She stopped when she realized that Ms. Destine was in the room and stood out of sight with wide eyes while she watched her ill tempered boss sitting at the meeting table with Brenna.  They had several sheets of paper in front of them and Candace didn't see any sign of the legendary temper or any hint of fear from her daughter.

"You need to watch out for typos, they detract from your message."  Ms. Destine started to talk and Candace realized that the paper in front of them both was Brenna's report.  The girl actually bothered Ms. Destine with that?  That was either very brave or very foolish.  From the serious expression on Ms. Destine's face Brenna had gotten lucky.  The woman could have been a card carrying Quarrymen.  No one knew much about their bosses private life.  "Your comments were well thought out, but I don't think the contrasting of Jon Canmore to Hitler should also include his appearance.  He does enough else, which you clearly prove.  You don't need to criticize his mustache.  It does nothing for your essay."

"Okay."  Brenna had a soft smile on her lips as she listen to the praise.  She really should.  Candace had worked for Ms. Destine since the company moved to New York and she'd never heard her talking so civilly and giving out encouragement like this.

"Also your ending, which I do like very much, is probably a bit heavy handed.  You could just end it here and you wouldn't lose anything."  Ms. Destine pulled a sheet of paper closer to both of them.  "Yes humans do a lousy job of sharing the planet, but this could be an essay all on it's own and doesn't quite fit with the historical analysis you have going on." 

Candace slowly backed away while they both continued to talk about Brenna's paper.  She felt a bit stunned that her daughter had managed to somehow reach Ms. Destine in a way that no one had thought possible.  "Who would have figured that woman had a maternal side."  She whispered to herself as she went out into the hall to get her drink.  "The Devil of Nightstone tutors high school freshman.  No one would believe me."  

********

Brenna held the copy of her report in her arms, hugged tight to her body as she walked up to the P.I.T. meeting for the first time.  She'd seen the flyer for it and there was no phone number, just the meeting time.  She'd had to use some of her work money for cab fare because her mother was on a date with some new guy called Dylan.  Candace hadn't introduced her daughter to him yet.  Brenna still hated when her mother went out with men she hadn't seen.  They could be axe murderers and Brenna wouldn't even be able to give the police a description.

"Hi, I'm Ellen.  Are you here for the P.I.T. meeting?"  A woman had noticed Brenna slowly walking down the halls.  Brenna was feeling a little embarrassed about her contribution now.  What if someone had already done a report, or if they thought a report this size was too big?  She'd worked pretty hard on this it would suck if no one could use it.

"Yeah."  Brenna gave Ellen a shy smile and went in the direction the woman pointed her to.  

"Christine, are you feeling better?"  She could hear a man talking with clear concern in his voice with a woman already in the room.

"Oh, I'm fine.  It was just some bruises, nothing got broken."  Christine smiled at him.  "And the female gargoyle Angela actually visited us in the hospital!  They know what we are trying to do for them and they appreciate it!"  The woman's voice got louder as she got more excited and Brenna just leaned up against a wall to quietly eavesdrop.  There weren't a lot of other people there yet and she didn't feel brave enough to just go join the conversation.  "It's horrible that our last meeting was attacked like that, but now we know… they are all that we thought they were."  The note of worship in the woman's voice was a little disturbing.  Sure, the one time Brenna had met Angela she'd thought she was great, but she wasn't a god or anything.

A few more people started coming in and Christine moved about to mingle.  Brenna felt the woman was like a shark circling, because as soon as she noticed Brenna in the corner she headed straight for her.  These social things had never been Brenna's strong suit.  

"Hi, you're new here."  Christine smiled widely at her.

Brenna smiled back nervously.  "Yeah, it's my first time."

"So what made you decide to join us?"

Brenna pulled the paper away from her chest a little.  "I met a gargoyle a few months ago…"

********

One of Demona's eyebrows rose at the energy that Brenna exhibited.  All she'd asked was if Brenna had a nice weekend.  The girl had been working there for four weeks and normally that question got a two word response from the girl, which was why Demona continued to ask it on a regular basis.  This weekend was apparently different.

"They loved my essay and asked if they could reproduce parts of it for their newsletter.  One of the guys even said that it looked better than the work his Freshmen College students turned in."  Brenna was beaming.  "Thank you for helping me edit it."

Demona just nodded in response to the obviously heartfelt thank you.  

P.I.T.  what a foolish organization, but Brenna seemed thrilled that the group wanted her to come back.  It was standard procedure for groups like this to be overly welcoming to new members.  It was a way to pull them in.  Demona found she didn't feel very comfortable with the girl joining a group that got Quarrymen attention so much.  She'd already told Demona about how Christine, one of the group leaders, had been attacked at a meeting, along with all those that had attended that time.

Well, if the young human wanted to take foolish risks it wasn't Demona's job to protect her.  Demona grimaced as she left the girl to continue filing.  The urge to forbid Brenna from going back surprised her.

********

Candace was having a great time with Dylan.  She smiled while taking a sip of her wine.  The man was polite, interesting, intelligent.  Maybe it was time to introduce him to Brenna.  They had been dating for almost two months now.  He knew Candace had a teenage daughter and actually had expressed an interest in meeting her tonight.  

While she considered inviting him up to the apartment once they got there, Candace couldn't help but remember the signs that littered their dining room.  Brenna had created several once they realized that Angela was imprisoned on what Brenna was convinced were trumped up charges.  For a horrible day the world thought that Angela was the only gargoyle to survive the explosion and between Brenna's tears and her resolve the girl had helped to organize a protest at the District Attorney's office.  Candace almost forbid her daughter to go, since she knew the Quarrymen would be there as well, but one look at the girl told her that this was more important to her daughter than anything.  She'd driven Brenna to the building and left her with some older P.I.T. members while she went to work.  She'd spent that day in the office, alone and worried about her daughter and the gargoyle that she'd become so attached to after only meeting her once.  She didn't even have Ms. Destine to distract her from her concerns since their boss had taken the day off.

"What are you thinking about?"  Dylan smiled at her when he returned.  She hadn't even noticed him sit back down.

"I was thinking that maybe next time we should take Brenna out to dinner with us.  I think she might like you."  Candace smiled at him.  If he was the one he'd find out about Brenna's activism streak soon enough.  She'd been dating a bit since Brenna became old enough to leave home alone, and Dylan seemed like the closest to the one she'd seen yet.  It was time to see if he passed the daughter test.

"Well, I guess we should start back."  Dylan gave her his bedroom eyes.  "Unless you wanted to come by my place for drinks?"

She held up her wine glass.  "But I'm having drinks right now.  Why would I need to go have… drinks… at your place?"  She grinned at him.

"You know what I mean."  He shook his head in mock disgust and Candace laughed.

"Sure.  Let me just call Brenna and tell her I'll be home later so she doesn't worry."

Candace almost slipped on the sidewalk as they moved to get into his car.  Winter weather was a pain.

********

Brenna groaned at the knocking on the front door.  Did her mother forget her keys again?  She rolled out of bed and glanced at the alarm clock.  God, why couldn't she just stay the entire night at his place if she was going to be coming home this late?

She trudged to the front door just as another volley of knocks hit it.  At this hour it had to be her mother, but years of habit had her checking the peephole.  She felt instantly more awake when she noticed the blue uniform and police hat fill her vision.

The chains were still attached when she opened the door.  Even if he was a policeman he was a stranger and he must have the wrong apartment.  The neighbors sometimes got called on for disturbing the peace, but Brenna had been sleeping.  "Hello?"

"Hi, I'm Officer Morgan."  The man spoke gently when he saw her.  Brenna started to get a bad feeling about this.  "Do you know a Candace McCullen?"

"That's my mom."  Brenna's voice got just a little higher as her concern bloomed into full out worry and when she noticed the look in his eyes, it grew to outright panic.

"Can you let me in sweetheart?"  Officer Morgan was still speaking in that soothing tone.  Something bad had happened. 

"What happened?"  Brenna spoke loudly.

"Just open the door and I'll tell you."  Officer Morgan held out his badge as if to verify he really was a cop, but Brenna didn't know how to tell if it was real.

Once she'd opened the door he walked with her into the living room.  "There is no easy way to say this."  Brenna felt her blood drain from her face.  "She was killed in a car accident tonight."  A dull hum seemed to drown out his words as Brenna fell back onto the couch and started to shake.  "If it's any comfort it was fast.  She probably didn't even know it was coming."

"Oh God…"  Brenna's felt like her heart was shattering.  "God, no… Mommy."  Her voice got louder.  "No, No, it has to be a mistake!  She went to spend the night with her new boyfriend.  She's at his place…"  She took a shuddering breath.  It had to just be a mistake.  "She called me to tell me not to worry.  She was just going to his place."

"Oh God, sweetheart.  I'm so sorry."  Officer Morgan squatted down in front of her.  "I'm so sorry sweetheart."

"No… No…"  Brenna pulled her legs up to her chest.  "No…"

"Is there someone I can call for you?"

Brenna try to calm her breathing enough to speak.  "No… there isn't anyone.  She's my only family."  That started the tears up again. "This can't be happening."  

"Is there a friend I can call for you?"

Friend.  She didn't have anyone she'd consider a friend.  No one… but he obviously wanted to call someone.  "I don't know her number."  The only person she could think of right now, and she had no idea where she was.

"We can find anyone.  Just give us a name and I'll make sure she's called." 

********

Demona was just getting ready for bed when the phone rang.  She stared at it almost disbelieving that it had rang until it did that again. 

"Hello."  Her voice held a note of her irritation.  One thing she didn't care for was phone solicitors and if the slimy bastards were calling her this early to sell something she'd make them want to be disemboweled.

"Is this Dominique Destine?"  A hesitant male voice asked.

"Yes."  She drew out her answer while waiting for the early morning caller to get to the point.

"Ma'am, I'm Officer Dexter with the 23rd precinct.  I'm sorry to inform you that Candace McCullen died tonight in a car accident."  Demona had barely enough time to register what she'd heard when he continued.  "Her daughter, Brenna asked for you."

"Is Brenna okay?"  Demona knew that was the right response to this, but the genuine concern she felt was a surprise.  She actually wanted an answer.  The loss of Candace at the office would be an inconvenience, but before she'd met Brenna, she would have just spent a few minutes grumbling and then called Human Resources to fill the new vacancy.  There were millions of humans on the planet that could do Candace's job, but Brenna only had one parent.  Demona remembered asking about that once.

"She wasn't in the car.  The girl is in her apartment.  Since she is a minor our officer can't leave her alone right now."  Officer Dexter's voice softened.  "I doubt she's doing very well.   She could use a familiar face."

An hour later she was pulling up behind the police car outside the apartment building.  It didn't look like much.  Demona was surprised that her secretary hadn't been able to afford a nicer place.  It wasn't like she didn't pay a competitive salary.  

Once she'd gotten to the second floor she saw the officer standing outside the apartment she was walking towards.  The man turned to her and took a step in her direction.  His voice was soft, he was obviously trying to be quiet.  "Are you Dominique?"

"It's Ms. Destine to you."  She glared at him.  He seemed to be startled by that, but quickly covered it up.

"I have Officer Jackson in with her right now.  I wanted to talk to you before…"  He glanced at the apartment door and his regret was clearly etched on his face.  "Brenna tells me that she doesn't have any other family."  Demona's eyes widened just a little at that.  Things were worse for her file clerk than she realized.  "The next couple of days are going to be hard enough on her, without her having to deal with living in a group home or finding a foster family.  There are too many orphans in this city.  It may take a while to find a suitable placement for her.  I didn't want to discuss this with her right now, but…"

"I can't take a child in."  Demona's voice rose just a little.  She couldn't, it just wasn't possible.  And why should she shelter a human?  There was no way a bright girl like Brenna wouldn't notice the way Demona shape changed during the night, or just disappeared.  She couldn't let that get out.

"Oh… Well, okay."  Officer Morgan sighed.  "Well, she's in here."  He moved to slowly open the apartment door.

"What's your cat's name."  A female voice that Demona didn't recognize carried out into the hallway.

"Lacey."  Brenna's voice was rough and the girl sounded like her entire world had fallen apart.  It had.  Demona stepped into the room and found herself in a small apartment next to a cluttered dining room table.  The other officer was a young female and she was sitting next to a huddled mass on the couch that had to be Brenna.  The girl had a blanket wrapped around her and Demona got the sense that she would prefer to pull that blanket up over her head than talk to the woman petting a gray cat next to her.

"Why'd you name him that?"

"Her.  She was named when we got her."  Brenna's voice caught on the we.  Demona took another step into the room.  The feeling of pain seemed to emanate from Brenna.  The girl noticed the movement in the dining room and her eyes drifted to Demona's.  Brenna's eyes were red and puffy.  Her face was pale and her hair was messy.  The most striking thing about her was the way she looked at Demona with gratitude and hope.  Demona froze in her steps to stare back for a moment. 

The ever observant female cop didn't even notice this exchange.  She just continued with the conversation.  "I like cats but I'm more of a dog person.  I have a dog called Canis."

Brenna's eyes turned to the cop.  "Should have just named him Dog."  The hint of irritation was clear even to that cop and she stopped talking to finally look around and notice her partner and Demona in the dining room.  

"I'll just go check in with the station."  Officer Jackson said quietly while getting up to leave.  Demona and Brenna paid her no attention.

"Thanks for coming Ms. Destine.  I'm sorry to bother you so early."  Tears started to fall down Brenna's face as she spoke.  Her voice showing she was just a moment away from sobbing.

Demona walked into the living room of the apartment she'd never seen before as if she owned it.  She, however, didn't really know what to say.  She glanced around for a moment and then decided to sit beside the girl.  Brenna was wiping her tears off with the blanket and trying to sit taller.  She was trying to be brave, but with her shattered appearance and wearing shorts and the t-shirt she'd slept in Brenna looked like a little girl.  "I'm sorry to hear what happened."  Demona finally decided on what to say.  Apparently it wasn't the right thing though, because Brenna started to shake as she tried to hold in more tears.  Demona looked at her with a helpless expression that the girl didn't notice.  Demona had to look away from the painful sight of Brenna trying to control her pain.  She looked up to see Officer Morgan watching them and glared at him again.  He just nodded and mouthed quietly that he'd step outside for a moment.  

Demona felt completely out of her element.  Her eyes felt suspiciously misty when she noticed what the clutter on the dining room table was for the first time since she'd come in.  There were several markers and paints out and many signs.  This human girl had several protest signs and had obviously tried to help get Angela released when the police had arrested her.

"Get dressed."  Demona spoke firmly.  Just a few days.  Just until the funeral, and then the city could find Brenna some human family to take her in.  She could make the arrangements to deal with Brenna's mother's body and some of the other things that the child couldn't do.  This little human had tried to help Demona's daughter after all.  She'd do this and they'd be even.  "You're going to stay at my house for a couple of days."  Demona waited until Brenna pulled back and looked at her with obvious shock.  Demona's voice grew demanding.  "There are rules to staying at my house and no matter how strange you think they are you will follow them.  Do you understand?"

"Yes Ms. Destine."  Brenna whispered.

"This is just going to be for a couple of days."  Demona felt the need to make that clear, and the girl didn't even seem to notice it.  She was too busy slowly trudging to what must be her bedroom.  

While Brenna packed Demona moved to the apartment's front door and opened it to see Officer Morgan leaning against the opposite wall.  "I'll take her for a few days.  Arrange the funeral and all, but you need to find a permanent place for her."  She glared at the slight smile he gave her.  

"Of course Ms. Destine."  Officer Morgan quickly agreed.  "I'll have someone contact you."  She watched as he left, leaving her to deal with a distraught teenager.  Dammit, if Candace hadn't died, Demona would fire her for putting her in this position.

*******

Brenna held Lacey to her body as Ms. Destine pulled away from her apartment building.  The redhead hadn't been thrilled about taking the cat as well, but Brenna wasn't going to leave her mother's cat alone in the apartment for days and there wasn't anyone else to care for her.  Brenna swallowed hard.  Just like she didn't have anyone else.  Ms. Destine didn't seem like the kind of person to take in strays.  

Brenna tried to study the woman subtly.  Ms. Destine was sitting very rigidly while staring out the windshield.  Her fingers were wrapped tightly around the steering wheel.  Brenna finally noticed Ms. Destine was actually wearing pants and a casual shirt.  She'd been too distracted to notice that before, but it made the woman look more like a regular person.

"Thank you."  Brenna whispered out.  It was pretty clear that Ms. Destine wasn't at all comfortable with taking her in, but she was doing it for now.

The redhead glanced at her for a moment.  "I should probably go over the rules.  They aren't negotiable."  Right then Brenna would have agreed to be Ms. Destine's personal slave if it meant she didn't have to be alone.  "That cat better not ruin any of my furniture."  Ms. Destine grumbled quietly and Brenna made a decision to keep very close eye on Lacey.  The cat wasn't destructive, but Brenna wouldn't take any chances.

"I'll make sure she behaves."  Brenna started to lightly pet the cat in her lap.

Ms. Destine went quiet for a moment.  "I have some odd rules, but you have to respect them or I can't keep you even one night."  Brenna just nodded, but Ms. Destine probably didn't see that since she was busy driving.  "I have a spare bedroom that has it's own bathroom.  I can move a T.V. in there, but you have to stay in there after dark.  I don't want you wandering around the house."  Brenna studied the woman, and could see Ms. Destine actually meant that.  "If you don't think you can follow that simple rule tell me now."

It was winter.  It got dark earlier now.  "I can do that."  Brenna couldn't imagine a reason to have a rule like that, but she wasn't really feeling up to exploring the woman's house anyhow.  

"I have a very good security system at the mansion.  You can't sneak out the window at night, or you could get hurt."  Ms. Destine seemed just a little more relaxed after Brenna agreed to the first rule.  "You can't make a mess and leave it around."  Brenna didn't think that would be a problem.  She was going to walk on eggshells the entire time she was there.  Living with Ms. Destine was a scary thought all on it's own.  She didn't want the woman angry with her.

"I'll be good."  Brenna spoke quietly.

"See to it that you are."  Ms. Destine spoke softly.  

*******

Demona sighed in the silence of the car.  The girl was just staring out the side window and Demona didn't think she was seeing anything.  Brenna sounded broken, her voice was quiet, timid, and sad.  Candace had been the girl's whole clan, and thinking of it that way was more disturbing.

The girl had agreed to the rules easily, and Demona seriously hoped that Brenna would follow through.  Still Demona would have to be careful as she walked around her own home at night in case the girl did leave her room.  Demona could order a small refrigerator for the guest room, which could help make sure the girl didn't feel the need to leave the room for food.  A computer would also help to keep Brenna interested in staying put.  Demona would call her driver, he could pick up a few items for her while she got Brenna situated.  

While she waited at a stop light her eyes fell to the cat.  That cat looked like Maza's.  At least this one didn't hiss at her, or there would be no way Brenna would be bringing it with them.

Demona kept glancing at the girl as she pulled up to her mansion.  The girl seemed to have regained her interest in the outside world.  Demona knew that her mansion was impressive, and even through her grief Brenna seemed to notice that.

"Nice home."  Brenna gave Demona a weak smile.

"It does the job."  Demona stopped the car in front of the mansion rather than putting it in the garage.  They had a few bags to unpack.

********

Brenna watched as Ms. Destine's driver set the box for the computer in the corner of the large bedroom.  The T.V. was already on one wall.  Brenna just looked around the room again, and wondered if her entire apartment could have fit inside it.  Not entirely, but easily the living room and dining room would have.  Ms. Destine had even had Gregory, the driver stop at the grocery store and get some things that Brenna said she liked for snacks and those now sat in a new mini fridge in one of the corners of the room. 

Mom would be shocked at how Ms. Destine had taken her in like this.  Brenna felt tears fill her eyes again and looked away from Gregory's sympathetic look as he left the room.  This mansion was a lot like her mother had thought it must be like.  Brenna remembered her mother saying that Ms. Destine must be richer than God, and probably had a mansion on a lot of land.  Her mother had also assumed the woman would have several servants, but aside from Gregory there weren't any in the house.  Perhaps Ms. Destine didn't have any.

"I hope this is suitable."  Ms. Destine spoke and Brenna turned to see the woman leaning in the doorway.  "It will be dark soon, so I wanted to remind you…"

"I won't wander around."  Brenna looked around the large room.  It was so perfect and neat that it didn't feel like anyone's home.  She wasn't feeling comfortable here at all, and knowing that she was trapped in the room at night was a bit upsetting but Ms. Destine was being so nice about helping her that she wasn't going to complain. 

"I have work to do, so you'll be on your own tonight."

"Okay."  Brenna looked around for Lacey and relaxed a bit when she saw her cat laying comfortably on the bed.

"Do you need anything before nightfall?"  The softness in Ms. Destine's voice was a bit of a surprise every time that Brenna heard it.  The woman was always such a commanding woman at work, but she'd been kind of nice today.

"I'm fine."  Brenna sighed.  She'd probably try to sleep early.  She'd woken up so early today.  God… it hadn't even been a day yet.  How the hell was she going to survive?

********

Demona glanced one more time around the room.  There should be enough here to keep the girl entertained.  Brenna's arms were wrapped around herself, making her look smaller.  It made Demona remember the pain of loss herself and she didn't like it.  

She closed the door behind her leaving Brenna to do whatever she wanted as long as she stayed where she was at.  It was going to be a long night.  Demona couldn't leave the girl alone tonight to go for the glide that she felt she could really use to clear her head, but she couldn't let the girl see her either.  Demona sighed.  Just a few days of this and her life could return to normal.

********

The funeral was pretty.  Brenna sighed heavily and tried to not cry.  People from work came, and Ms. Destine had bought several flowers for the ceremony.  Putting the handful of dirt on her mother's grave was the hardest thing Brenna had ever had to do, and her hand shook violently when she did that.

She didn't want to be around all these people.  They looked at her with pity, and she couldn't cry here.  Not with everyone she worked with around.  

"Let's get out of here."  Ms. Destine spoke quietly near Brenna's ear.  Brenna just nodded, grateful the woman wasn't going to make her be the last one there.  Her mother was gone, she didn't need to stand around in the cemetery.  Brenna took one last look at the grave and followed Ms. Destine to the limo.  

********

Demona watched the girl curl up on the couch.  She'd forgone the usual after funeral gathering that humans did.  Brenna hadn't wanted it.  She didn't want to stand around with a bunch of people giving her pitying looks.  The girl didn't have to say that, Demona could tell.

She moved to stand behind the couch and looked down at Brenna.  The redhead's hand reached out and caressed the girl's hair.  Brenna barely seemed to notice the touch.  She was doing worse today than she had been yesterday.

"The funeral makes it so real."  Brenna whispered.  "I keep hoping that she'll come back, like Angela's clan all came back.  That it was just a mistake and she's really still alive."  Demona continued to pet Brenna's hair softly.  It seemed to give the girl strength to talk.  "But she's really in there isn't she?"

It had been a closed casket because the accident hadn't been kind, but Demona had been able to identify the body.  Brenna didn't need to see her mother like that.  "Yes.  She's gone."

"I don't want her to be gone."  Demona stood quietly behind the couch resting her hands on the back of it while Brenna stared off into space.  There was no magic words to make this better, and Demona knew that better than most.  Even time doesn't heal all wounds.

She hadn't realized when she'd started staring at the screen of the T.V., even though it wasn't on, but the touch on her hand drew her attention back down to the girl in front of her.  Brenna was staring up at her with a real intensity.  The girl's warm hand covered her own.  "I… thank you for helping me.  I don't know what I would have done without…"

Demona cleared her throat a bit nervously.  The girl had been depressed and in pain for the few days that she'd been in Demona's home, but still she'd been good company for a female used to spending so much time alone.  Brenna hadn't even tried to disobey any of the rules, and stayed in her room without complaint at night.  "Mom would have liked the flowers."  Brenna sighed.  "I'm gonna go take a shower and change."

"Okay."  Demona watched the girl walk out of the living room slowly.  The phone ringing startled Demona out of her painful memories and her strange feelings of helplessness.  She didn't like seeing Brenna hurting like this.  The girl used to have such energy and a real warrior's spirit.  Her mother's death seemed to have killed that as well.

"Ms. Destine?  This is Rachel from child protective services.  I've talked to you before."  The woman started to talk and Demona leaned up against the kitchen cabinet.  "I know you wanted us to place Brenna McCullen as soon as possible.  We have a group home outside of the city that has a new opening.  If we want her to have it we need to put in for it quickly.  It's one of the nicer institutions."

"An orphanage?  Is that what it is?"  Visions of bad movies with orphans having to do menial labor in order to get slop for meals came to Demona's mind.  Brenna was still too fragile to deal with a bunch of kids even if the place was better than that.  The girl didn't really get along with young humans and forcing her to deal with that now.  "No, no group homes.  Brenna doesn't do well with other kids."

"Well, we don't have a lot of options at this point."  Rachel sounded a bit impatient.  "Sadly there aren't a lot of people willing to adopt teenagers, and the foster care system is overloaded at this point."

Demona's eyes narrowed at this humans attitude.  "Well, you work harder to find a suitable placement.  I'll keep her until you managed to do your job."  Demona slammed the phone down angrily.  She didn't want to deal with this now.  Demona sat down at the kitchen island and pretended to read the newspaper.  Only one article managed to draw her real attention.  A slight smile came to her as she read about the violent altercation in the jail that resulted in three deaths, one of which was a Jon Castaway.  At least that one problem had been easy to deal with.

"Dominique?"  Brenna called out to her, obviously wondering where she was.  It was still strange to hear her chosen first name being called out, since she'd just recently given the girl permission to use it. 

"In the kitchen."  Demona called out.  The girl was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt when she came into the room.  "It looks like you might be staying with me a while longer."  Demona spoke in a professional tone, but the look of gratefulness in Brenna's eyes when she looked up at her made Demona smile just a little.  She'd just reinforce the rules every so often to make sure there were no accidents.  Demona had been hiding among humans for over a thousand years, she should be able to keep one teenager, no matter how smart she was, from figuring out her secret.

TBC…


	2. Not So Alone Part 1

**Not So Alone**

Part 1

By Princess Alexandria

Princess_alex24@hotmail.com

Demona wasn't thrilled with having to take Brenna to school before she could start her day, but the only other option was to get to work even earlier and have someone else delegated to do that, or for her driver to first go out and take Brenna to school then come back for her.  That would make her late to work every day instead.  

Gregory stopped the car and Demona glanced at the nervous looking child beside her.  "What's the matter?"  She didn't bother trying to keep the hint of irritation in her voice.  They'd been sitting still too long and Demona wanted to get inside, take care of business and get to work.

"Nothing."  Brenna spoke quietly, but Demona could see her glancing out the window at the school and the crowd of students milling about.

"Well then lets go."  The girl was seated on the side next to the sidewalk, and Demona had to visit the office and change Brenna's address as well as deliver the papers the state sent her that showed she had temporary guardianship of the girl.  Demona watched as Brenna opened the door and got out.  The girl was actually scared, but she wouldn't admit it.  What was she afraid of?

Brenna didn't glance at the kids on the step once, but Demona could see all the student's eyes following her.  "Man, a limo… who died and made her queen?"  Someone said a bit loudly and Demona watched Brenna's hands clench into fists as she just continued to lead her towards the front door.

"She's always been Queen.  Queen of the nerds."  A spiteful young female answered what looked like her boyfriend while giving Brenna a fake smile.

Demona watched as Brenna tried to hide how much those taunts bothered her.  This was her first day back at school after her mother died and this is the welcome she got.  

"Who was that little brat?"  Demona moved to walk beside Brenna in the halls and her glares at the students in the way cleared a path.

"Tina."  Brenna sighed heavily.  "The girl I got suspended for hitting."

"Didn't hit her hard enough from the looks of it."  She glanced back out towards the doors and watched the little beast in question coming inside.  "Next time see if you can crack her jaw so they wire it shut."  That got a hint of a smile out of the girl.

********

The Principal was making a big mistake making Ms. Destine wait, Brenna thought as they sat in main office while he was on the phone.  She could see the redheaded woman's patience fading fast.  They wouldn't even need to talk to him personally, except when they came in to deal with the paperwork he'd noticed Brenna, and couldn't resist another chance to make her life difficult.  Brenna stared down at the binder in her hands.  He really had it in for her, especially since the time he'd mentioned he noticed her essay was being distributed by the P.I.T.  He was a pretty horrible man and Brenna wondered if she was a bad person for hoping he tried to intimidate Ms. Destine because she knew that the redhead next to her could eat him alive. 

The binder in her hand slid to the ground and papers were scattered.  Brenna just grimaced and hurried to pick them up before someone else came into the office and stepped on her homework.  She didn't even notice Ms. Destine's hand reach down and pick up one of them to study.

"You write a lot better than this."  Ms. Destine didn't sound too please.  Brenna turned to see her looking at the English paper due today.

"It's not a big paper.  It doesn't need to be perfect."

"It says right in the header it's your midterm."

Brenna shoved the other papers carelessly back into her binder, while looking around to make sure no other students were there.  "It doesn't pay to be too much smarter around here.  Its an A paper and the teachers won't make a huge fuss because its too good."

"You are dumbing down your work?"  Ms. Destine's eyes seemed to bore into her.  When the woman held out a demanding hand it wasn't hard to understand what she wanted.  Brenna sighed as she handed her binder over.  "You are actually doing this on purpose."  She was quickly flipping through Brenna's homework, probably only reading a few lines of each one.  Brenna was suddenly ashamed, she didn't want Ms. Destine to think less of her for not being willing to take the teasing for this.  It just didn't seem worth the problems it would cause, unlike the situation with Angela and the gargoyles.  The redheaded executive looked up from the papers to stare into her eyes.  "Why?"

"If the teachers make a fuss about it the other kids…"  Brenna shook her head just slightly.  She had no idea how to explain this to her.. what?  What was Ms. Destine?  Her guardian?

"They don't tolerate intelligence in the education system do they?"  Ms. Destine spoke with an angry clip, but Brenna had the impression that it wasn't actually aimed at her.  "I don't know why that surprises me, when I see how stupid… people… can be.  Obviously learning to conform is more highly rated than actual true intelligence."

Brenna felt like hissing at that painful jab.  Ms. Destine must think she's just a mindless sheep to let herself do this.  "If the kids start to pick on me I can't fight back or Mr. Smyth with suspend me.  He doesn't care who starts it.  He's after me.  I don't want to write like this anymore, I'm tired of it… but if I mess up the curve for any class and other kids get lower grades because of me they will threaten me, they have before."

"I see."  Ms. Destine's lips pursed together as she handed the binder back to her.  The way the woman glared out towards the hallway full of students made Brenna think that sitting quietly for now was a good idea. 

******** 

The short balding man opened his office door finally.  Demona almost felt like growling at him for making her wait when she had to get to work.  

That time had given her more insight into the child next to her though.  Brenna was willing to take on the Quarrymen and her school for Angela, but she wasn't willing to defend herself with the same ferocity.  She was being teased at school and from Brenna's reaction to getting out of the limo it was a normal thing and even the principal was in on it.  Demona wasn't at all happy with this realization.  Brenna was paying daily for her defense of Angela and that paper she wrote. 

"Hello, I'm Principal Smyth."  The little man came out from behind the counter to talk.  "How can I help you?"  Demona didn't miss his curious and not too friendly glance towards Brenna.  The redhead immediately decided that the girl didn't need to be hurt by having to listen to this man find out about the death of her mother.

"Brenna, I'll be right back.  Don't wander off."  Demona told the girl as she stood up and faced the principal of this joke of a school.  She then marched into the man's office without bothering to invite him.  She knew he'd follow.  "Close the door."  She ordered him as soon as he stepped inside.  She was busy pulling out the papers the state gave her so that he wouldn't doubt her right to make any changes regarding Brenna.

"Is this some sort of child custody or child support thing, because we have specific procedures for dealing with those."  He started to try and regain control of the meeting, so Demona just glared up at him while sitting back in her seat.

"Brenna's mother died over the weekend.  That's why she missed a few days of school.  She will be staying with me."  Demona handed him his copy of the paperwork and noticed him glancing over it.  "I need to submit a change of address, and the state told me that the fact that I live out of the school district won't interfere with her education since I have a driver to take her to school."

"Well, I'm sorry for her loss."  He sounded more like he was saying it was ugly weather out side.  "So are you… an Aunt or something?"  

Demona had to pause at that.  "I'm a… friend."  She answered coldly.  It really wasn't any of this man's business why she'd taken Brenna in.  It felt strange to say those words and it made her a bit more irritated that he'd forced her into doing it.  "I want to take care of any paperwork quickly so that I can get to work."  

He didn't hop to action as well as her employees did when she made a demand, but he did get up and get the paperwork needed from the front office.  He'd left his office door opened when he did that and Demona found herself glancing out to see that Tina child standing in front of Brenna saying something with a sneer on her face.  Brenna looked like whatever it was hurt and the principal just glanced at them and came back with his paperwork.

"I've changed my mind."  Demona started to speak faster.  "I am withdrawing her.  This school is a complete joke, she'd be better suited to teach here than learn.  Your students are little more than trained monkeys and the teachers must be blind to not see Brenna is far too good for this place."  Her own words surprised her.  She had fully intended to just set up the new address and let Brenna continue as she had been.  The social worker from the state said that staying in her normal school might be good for the girl, but she obviously was wrong.  Sometimes change was just what was needed.  Brenna didn't need this type of stability.

"What?"  He seemed stunned.  

"Get me whatever papers I need to re-enroll her at a real school."  She spoke more slowly so that he knew she considered him an idiot.

"What school?"

Demona raised her voice so that the girl could hear her in the hall, and to hopefully get that little parasitic human away from her.  "Brenna, come here!"  Brenna was up and moving towards her quickly, looking a bit confused by the order.  Once the girl was in the doorway she spoke.  "What was the name of that school you told me about?"

"Ah… Cordova High School."

"And where is it?"  

"It's… It's a few blocks from that building with the castle."

Demona almost grimaced at that.  Still she'd already committed herself to this action, and school was during the day.  "Well, that's your new school.  We're going to go enroll you today, as soon as this… man… gets the paperwork ready to go."

"Cordova is a very exclusive school.  You can't just walk in and enroll, you need to be invited.  It's based on test scores, grades, and it isn't free."  Mr. Smyth sounded like he enjoyed trying to ruin this plan.

"Brenna has been invited, and as a NightStone employee she's eligible for scholarship money."  Demona had no idea if that scholarship fund would cover high school, but she'd fix that if it didn't.  NightStone was going to take care of it's own.

"You work at NightStone?"

"I OWN NightStone."  Demona glared at him.  "Brenna works for me.  Now get the paperwork.  I obviously need to get everything taken care of this morning."

His eyes widened at her declaration and Demona noticed with a hint of satisfaction that the little man was working to be more accommodating after that.

********

Brenna stared at Ms. Destine in shock.  She was going to pay for her to go to that school.  She watched as Principal Smyth hurried to pick up the papers they'd need so that they could go.  Normally moving in the middle of a semester wouldn't be a good idea, but Brenna was more than willing to make up all the work she'd missed, even if it meant she barely got to sleep.  She wanted out of this school that badly.

The principal was still working on getting her transcript, so Brenna moved closer to the seated and regal looking redhead.  "Thank you."

"If you have any belongings here, go get them.  We aren't coming back."  Those words filled Brenna with a hint of lightness.  She moved to leave.  She'd have her locker cleaned out quickly.

She passed Tina in the hall without even looking at her and quickly moved down the crowded halls full of talking students.  She was organizing her books and pulling down her article with a picture of Angela from the inside of the locker when she heard Tina's voice again.  The bitch had followed her.

Tina had always been a bitch, but when the principal made it a point to tell Brenna in front of Tina that if Brenna hit anyone again she'd be expelled Tina had only gotten worse.  She must have felt safe in the knowledge that Brenna wouldn't risk hitting her, or maybe she was willing to take a hit if it meant it would ruin Brenna's life.

"So, you finally get expelled freak?"

Brenna gritted her teeth and continued making sure to grab everything.  She hated that Tina had embarrassed her in front of Ms. Destine.

"Freak, I'm talking to you."  Tina's voice rose and Brenna felt an embarrassed flush come to her cheeks as she turned around with her books in her arms to see they'd drawn a bit of a crowd.

"I'm going to a new school, one where the students actually know how to read and write."  Brenna glared at the girl, making it no secret who she was calling stupid.

She started to walk away when Tina grabbed her arm, almost making Brenna drop her books.  "So whose the woman in red, your parole officer?"

"Oh yeah, because everyone knows parole officers ride in limos.  You really are stupider than a brick aren't you?"  Brenna was quickly losing her patience.  She needed to get back to the office.  Ms. Destine was doing her a huge favor and she wasn't going to make the woman wait for her.

"stupid Freak."  Tina glared at her.  "You know all about bricks, you LOVE… them."  Tina once again insinuated that Brenna was sleeping with one of the gargoyles.  "Those fucking gargoyles are still gonna die.  Just because the stupid city doesn't see what monsters they are doesn't mean that good people will let them run loose."

Brenna was almost ready to hit her, she really wanted to.  Ms. Destine stepped out into the hall and Brenna watched Tina take a step back so it wasn't so obvious she'd been trying to get Brenna to fight.  Brenna just pulled her books tighter to her body and started to walk away.  It's what she'd been doing for months, but this was the last time.  She was leaving this school and all the mean comments, attempts to trip her, and cold stares.  She was going to go to a real school, where the teachers spent more time teaching and less time telling the kids to behave.  Where she wouldn't have to hide that she was smart, because everyone there would be.  

Her mother would definitely be happy for her, she'd told Brenna enough times that she wished she could do that for her.  That she was sorry they didn't have enough money to send her to that school.  Tears started to fill her eyes so she looked down and followed Ms. Destine to the limo.  She wished her mother could have known she was finally getting to go.  She would have taken her out to dinner to celebrate and they would have sat and talked about how much better this was going to be.  Big changes for the better or finally completing huge projects always got a celebration.

********

Demona walked into her office and almost called out for Candace to get her a cup of coffee before she realized the woman sitting in Candace's chair was the new receptionist.  This might be a problem.  She glanced at the box beside the desk filled with Candace's personal belongings, like pictures.  Yes, this would definitely be a problem.  Brenna was going to come into work and be faced with her mother's replacement.  She'd have to work with her, take orders from her.

"Hi, I'm Jane Watson."  The woman introduced herself.  Demona had just let Human Resources deal with getting the replacement, since she was dealing with the funeral and also stayed home so that Brenna had time to mourn without having to be completely alone.

"Hello Jane.  Call someone to take Candace's belongings to my car."  She glanced at the new photos of the young blonde woman and her… must be her boyfriend… sitting on the desk now.  "Keep your personal belongings out of sight for a week before you leave them out."  She snapped at her.  "We still have her daughter working here, she doesn't need to see you move in so fast!"  She then turned to march into her office.

Brenna was having a half way decent day, she didn't need to come to work and deal with her mother's absence today.  Demona moved to stand beside the window of her office and stared out towards the city.  She'd paid for the tuition in advance to speed up the enrollment and when the counselor helped Brenna pick classes the girl had actually smiled like she used to.  Brenna had also asked Demona for her opinion on some of her choices and really cared about the answer.  

The knock on her door interrupted Demona's pondering about what had happened and how she'd ended up signing Brenna up at a new school when she hadn't wanted to get that involved in the child's life.  She was just keeping her until the state could find a human family to take her in.  It was ridiculous for a gargoyle to try and raise a human child, and doubly ridiculous for her.  The irony of the fact that humans had raised her own daughter, while she now had a human child didn't escape her.

"Ms. Destine, I had the box brought down."  Jane spoke timidly, "I'm sorry about my things.  I didn't even think about that.  I'll be careful for as long as you think she needs it.  It must be so hard losing your mother at such a young age."  Demona just nodded once to her before sitting down to get to work.  

********

Brenna got out of the limo at the Nightstone building.  Ms. Destine had sent her driver to pick Brenna up after school today, and Gregory was great about parking the limo down the street so that the other kids didn't see it.  She didn't want to be marked as different right away.  So far it looked like she might actually fit in there.  They had students that spoke up in class and said some of the things that Brenna always had just thought to herself rather than risk saying and being teased for being brainy.  Still she'd stayed mostly silent her first day, to see how everyone else acted first.

Her nervousness increased as she got out of the elevator and started down the hall to her work.  She hadn't been there since her mother died, and she could swear she felt eyes watching her from the offices she passed on the way to Ms. Destine's.  She was almost there when Ms. Destine stepped out of her front office and started towards her with a determined look in her eyes.  "Brenna, I need you to come with me on a site visit.  You'll be taking notes on what I tell you to."

The sound of an electric screwdriver came from the office behind them as they both walked back towards the elevator.  Brenna didn't know what to think about this change in her job position.  She filed things and occasionally went on errands.  She didn't do site visits or anything that really put her out where people would see her.

The loud bang from their office made Brenna look back down the hall as they waited for the elevator.  "What are they doing?"  She finally asked.

"A little remodeling.  I'd been thinking about having it done for months.  You need a space of your own."  Ms. Destine's body held a bit of tension and Brenna could guess why.  Brenna used to share a piece of her mothers desk whenever she needed some desk space.  Once they stepped inside the elevator and away from watching eyes Ms. Destine seemed to relax a little and her voice was a little softer.  "We didn't need that when we only had a temp for a few days a month, but with your position being permanent you should really have a workspace."  Brenna just nodded distractedly.  It wasn't often that she had to sit down at a desk.

"School was really great."  Brenna started a different conversation, because the new desk topic made her uncomfortable.  "The books are more interesting, the students are smart, and the place is actually clean."  She looked up at the redhead.  Ms. Destine was definitely taller than Brenna, but the high heels made her even taller.  Brenna just wore flats, or tennis shoes if she thought she could get away with it.  "Thank you."

Ms. Destine tensed up a little at that but said nothing.  Brenna didn't understand why the woman was so uncomfortable with being thanked for anything.  She was helping Brenna more than anyone other than her mother ever had before and yet she acted like she couldn't bare to acknowledge that.  

********

Demona watched her nervous file clerk try to fill the role of a personal assistant while following her through one of Nightstone's research facility.  This visit served a few purposes.  It made sure that they could get away from the noisy office while the facilities people rearranged things to be more efficient.  It also got Brenna back to working without having to see her mother's desk being dismantled to make room for a cubicle behind it.  Living with a constantly hurting human would be tiring, it was best to make this transition as easy as possible on the girl.  She didn't need to continually come into work and imagine seeing her mother sitting where she'd always been.  The office wasn't going to look like it used to.  That should make it easier.

Demona rattled off more complaints which Brenna struggled to write down as quickly as possible.  The girl didn't know shorthand.  Apparently skills like that weren't inherited.  Brenna's appearance also wasn't suited for this type of work.  The girl's hair looked like it was just a hairspray can away from being a Mohawk and the earrings that she used to not wear to work were now back in her ears.  Demona hadn't even noticed the girl slowly putting them back in over the past few months.  In spite of looking like a street punk, Brenna stood at attention and followed all of Demona's orders like a professional.

********

"Dominique do you have any family?"  Brenna asked quietly while they sat eating dinner.  She hadn't seen any pictures around the mansion of Ms. Destine's family.  It was hard to call the woman Dominique at home like she said that Brenna could, because she'd been Ms. Destine to her for months, and it had only been a week since she told Brenna to call her Dominique when it was just them.  Brenna had to force herself to do it.  It sounded a bit stilted to her own ears.

Ms. Destine seemed to tense up as the food on her fork stopped its progress to her mouth.  Brenna didn't think it was an unusual question but the woman seemed to be studying Brenna as if she was debating about answering it.  "I have a daughter from my first marriage.  I don't get to see her very often."

Brenna was a bit surprised at this.  It was pretty uncommon for the woman to not get custody of a kid.  "Oh, I'm sorry.  That must be… hard."  She was feeling like perhaps she shouldn't have asked the question after all.  "What's her name?" 

"Enough about me."  Ms. Destine leaned forward a little, ending that conversation quickly.  It must be too painful to talk about.  "I was curious how you wouldn't have a father listed on your birth certificate."

Brenna felt a bit of a blush on her cheeks.  "Umm, mom told me he was a jerk and she didn't want him to ever have any legal claim to me.  All he cared about was money and power and she didn't want me to be like that."

"So do you know who he is?"  Brenna wasn't liking this conversation.  Was Ms. Destine trying to get rid of her just for asking a personal question?  

"No.  Mom didn't tell me who he was."  She wasn't planning on telling Ms. Destine anymore about that.  Her mother had told her that he was a man she used to work for and the only good that man ever did was give her Brenna.  He was obsessed with becoming more rich and powerful, and only wanted to pull himself out of the poverty that he'd known as a child.  He was charming, which was how Brenna's mom ended up being with him, but after seeing his less than legal dealings and lack of real morality Candace decided to quit when she became pregnant and never tell him.  Brenna knew some things about her father, or more like the sperm donor that sired her, but she didn't know his name.  

"Did you like the dinner?"  Brenna asked to try and change the conversation again.  "I've never made lasagna before."  She just needed to stay long enough for Ms. Destine to forget she wanted to send her away.  She'd been trying to be really helpful around the mansion, and she never did anything that she thought would upset Ms. Destine.  She felt constant pressure to be perfect so that she wouldn't be kicked out.

"It's very good."  Ms. Destine answered right before taking another bite.  Brenna smiled and didn't notice the speculative look Ms. Destine gave her while she took a sip of her drink.

********

Brenna sure isn't practiced in the art of lying, Demona thought to herself as she watched the young girl eat.  She knew something and just wasn't willing to tell Demona it.  Why would she do that?  She had to be ready to move on to a real home by now.  Demona watched Brenna at night through the balcony doors sometimes and the girl wasn't crying quite as much as she used to.  It was hard to watch Brenna cry and not go to her at times, but Demona had to keep her night form a secret, because even humans like Brenna might betray her, if just unintentionally with a thoughtless comment in front of witnesses.  Brenna wasn't a good enough liar for really big secrets.

Rachel the social worker was more inept than could almost be believed.  The only lead she'd reported, because she had given in to Demona's demand that Brenna not be forced to live with other kids, was an older couple, but it almost sounded like they wanted a poster child and Rachel had asked if Demona would tell Brenna to change her hairstyle and take out the extra earrings so that the holes might heal up.  Brenna wasn't going to be someone's token child.  True the hair and earrings were a bit much, but if anyone forced her to change those just so that she could find a home the girl would never feel truly wanted.  Demona just watched the girl shave the sides of her head occasionally and said nothing.  

Rachel had even had the nerve to tell Demona that with the large caseload she had it could be a while before Brenna was placed to Demona's specifications and that if the girl became bonded with her before they pulled her away it could hurt her again.  She wanted Demona to lower her standards and claimed it was for Brenna's own good.  Demona knew that if she hadn't worked with her lawyers on securing her position as guardian she'd have no say over where Brenna went.  Her lawyers and her threats to make the state look bad if they didn't do well by Brenna were backed with lots of money and Rachel knew it.  Demona was calling the shots in this.

********

Brenna sighed as she closed her textbook.  She'd been working hard for a while and finally got to the point that she was caught up with all her classes, even science.  Ms. Destine had hired one of her scientist to tutor her in it so that she could, although Brenna wondered if Taina really had a choice in the matter.  Still the woman was a pretty good tutor and now Brenna was caught up in biology.

Now that her homework was done she knew her nights would become boring again.  She had to work harder than she used to on her homework, but it was the catch-up work that entertained her most nights.  There was only so much T.V. she was willing to watch.  "I need a hobby."  Brenna muttered quietly as she shut her computer down.  Maybe she could ask for Ms. Destine to get her Internet access.  

Time to just sit and think was just time to hurt.  Brenna was mad at her mother for going out on that date and she hated that she felt that way.  If her mother had just come home after dinner she'd be alive.  If she hadn't been so interested in sleeping with that man she'd be alive.  Brenna knew his name, but in her mind she only referred to him as THAT MAN.  The one that was driving when her mother died, and it didn't matter to her that he died as well.  It was all his fault.

She moved to stare up at the stars.  The seat next to the balcony doors made it so she didn't even have to go outside to do it, which was good because it was a little chilly out.

When a shape obscured some of the stars she was looking at Brenna's eyes widened.  She stared more carefully and wished she had binoculars.  The shape got larger and there was no mistaking it.  A gargoyle.  What was a gargoyle doing this far from the city?  A smile started to cross Brenna's face as she watched the female glide low over the mansion.  That was so cool.  It must be Angela, she'd never heard of any other females.  She almost stepped out on her balcony to call out.  She would have but the gargoyle was gone too quickly and she didn't want to wake up Ms. Destine.

Did the gargoyles patrol this area regularly?  Brenna stayed staring up at the sky for an hour before going to bed.  Maybe she could buy some binoculars, they'd work better than a telescope.  She'd keep an eye out.  If Angela came back she wanted to talk to her and give her that report she did.  For the first time since her mother died Brenna fell asleep with a smile on her face.  She was going to meet the gargoyle again.

********

"I saw a gargoyle last night."  Brenna's declaration almost came into the kitchen before she did.  Demona barely managed to not hiss out her displeasure.  She'd been seen.  She knew it would only be a matter of time.  "She flew right over the mansion.  It was so cool."

"I'm sure it was probably just a bird.  Gargoyles wouldn't be this far out of the city."  Demona spoke calmly while dishing up their breakfast.

"No, I'm sure it was…"

"Look, nothing bigger than a bird could get through the security system.  It couldn't have been a gargoyle."  She snapped at the child and the look of hurt on Brenna's face almost made her regret it.  She couldn't let the girl think a gargoyle was in the area.  Brenna was too enamored of gargoyles and would try to investigate.

Demona almost sighed at her own thoughtlessness last night.  She needed to glide higher than a human eye could see on Brenna's side of the house.  She wouldn't make that mistake again.

"Brenna I've been meaning to talk to you about your earrings."  Demona glanced at the row of four in each ear.  "It really isn't very professional.  In the dress code it states that women can have ONE set of ear piercings."  The girl looked a bit scolded and reached up to take out the other three.  This really was for the best.  If she didn't wear them eventually the holes would close up.  A family wouldn't know Brenna was such a bright child, they'd only look at her piercings and her hair and assume she was a problem child.  She was really just giving Brenna a better chance.  They could talk about the hair another day, it looked like the girl was upset enough.  "This weekend maybe we could check a museum?"

"Yeah sure."  Brenna didn't sound too enthusiastic.  The girl sat down heavily at the table and started to eat quietly.  Demona gritted her teeth.  She didn't mean to… dammit why were teenagers so damned moody?!

********

Brenna had been thinking about it all day during school, and she was sure she'd seen a gargoyle.  When she met Gregory after school she made up her mind.  "Can we go to a store before I go to work?  I need to buy something."

"Sure, where did you want to go?"  He smiled at her as he held open the limo door.  It was still strange having a driver.

"First the bank and then a camera shop."  She'd prove it to Ms. Destine.  She'd buy a camera that could zoom in and get a good picture of the gargoyle.  Ms. Destine would have to believe her then.


	3. Not So Alone Part 2

**Not So Alone**

Part 2

By Princess Alexandria

Princess_alex24@hotmail.com

Demona walked behind the girl as she moved quickly towards the dinosaur exhibit.  Brenna was a bit more enthusiastic about being here now that they'd arrived.  Demona had been right, this was the sort of thing Brenna would like.  She felt the beginnings of a small smile as she watched Brenna staring at the caveman exhibit.

"I think I've seen that man on the subway."  Brenna gave her a smirk as she pointed to a hairy looking hunched over humanoid.

Demona had wondered something since science had declared it years ago.  "Descended from apes.  How do you feel about that?"

"Oh, I believe in evolution over creationism."  Brenna sounded pretty intellectual.  That wasn't what Demona was asking but she just leaned against the railing and got more comfortable.  The girl had a way of answering questions she hadn't even thought to ask when Demona just let her go.  "There is a lot of proof that humans did evolve.  Scientist found fossils and it just makes more sense to me than to think some god decided to make us."

Demona couldn't help but remember the way Darwin was received by his peers when he mentioned that.  She personally agreed with the evolution idea for the humans, because they were far too flawed to be some god's idea of a superior species.  They were an accident of evolution that spread like rats across the planet.

"As for the being descendents of apes."  Brenna stepped a little closer to Demona and spoke more quietly so that the other people didn't hear them.  "The apes should be ashamed.  If they'd just exhibited a little control…"  Brenna chuckled.  "Really though, I can believe it even though I can't climb to save my life.  Shame we lost all that strength when we gained a brain, but then it does prove that those jocks really are lower life forms."

Demona chuckled and reached out to push some of Brenna's hair out of her eyes.  "You really are a weird human."

Brenna stuck her tongue out playfully and grinned, "Better to be a weird one.  The normal ones are really scary."  Brenna was a real puzzle, but Demona couldn't help but like her attitude and the way she thought.  "Oh, and Dominique…"  Brenna smiled at her, "You're pretty weird yourself."

"So what did you want to look at now?"  Demona asked as they started away from the caveman exhibit.  Brenna glanced at the map they'd picked up at the door.

"Is there something that you wanted to see?"  Brenna glanced at her with soft eyes.  Coming to the museum with Brenna was a lot more fun than coming alone.  Of course whenever she went to a museum it was to case the place for a break in later that night.

********

Brenna followed Dominique through the medieval history exhibit.  The playfulness was gone as the redhead looked more seriously at the exhibits of weapons and other artifacts.  "It's really amazing what things managed to survive the ages."  Dominique spoke quietly while staring at a painting from some Scottish castle.  "This was the most hideous painting in the whole castle."  Dominique glanced at Brenna who'd moved closer to stand beside her, "Or it must have been."

"My mom's family was Scottish."  Brenna spoke quietly, a bit unwilling to interrupt whatever Dominique's thoughts were, but not wanting to leave her alone either.  Dominique was too intense, like something was really bothering her.  The woman didn't acknowledge her and Brenna nibbled on her lip while she tried to think of what to do.  She hesitantly moved closer and reached out to rest her hand over Dominique's, which was resting on the bar keeping visitors from getting too close to this exhibit.

When Dominique turned to look at her, clearly startled.  Brenna spoke softly.  "Are you okay?"  

"Yes, of course."  Dominique glanced at the painting of a young woman again before turning to give Brenna a searching look.  "I'm feeling like we've seen everything interesting here.  Let's go eat."

********

Demona was stunned to see Brenna acting very attentive and slightly concerned in the museum.  The painting of Princess Katherine had irritated her.  That woman's influence touched far too much.  It was a thousand years after she should have been dead, and neither the woman nor the painting seemed to realize that.  That horrible woman was who raised Angela, after having treated her clan with less respect than she gave the castle dogs.

"I've had a lot of fun."  Brenna started talking to her while they walked to a nearby restaurant.  

"So have I."  Demona was a bit surprised at how much she meant that.      

********

Brenna had the camera in her lap as she sat on the chair near the balcony doors.  She'd had her new friend Gencie teach her how to use it, it was more advanced than the camera that Brenna had used in her photography class.  Gencie was a photojournalist on the school newspaper.  She sighed as she continued to stare up at the sky.  She'd been waiting a week for Angela to come back but no luck so far.  She'd hate to think she wasted the money on the camera.

It was a bit cold this close to the windows so she got up and moved to her bed.  "Sorry Lacey, you need to move."  She whispered to her sleeping cat as she rolled her off the blanket.  She then wrapped it around herself and sat back down in the chair.  The cat was a bit insulted, but she'd get over it.

She stared at the sky, "Come on Angela.  I just want to show Ms. Destine I wasn't crazy."

********

Demona glided high over the mansion and she noticed Brenna's light was still on.  It was far too late for the girl to be awake.  She moved carefully out of sight of her window and moved lower.  Her landing on the ground was quiet and she was then able to leap up to grab onto the trellis so she could climb up.  She'd made sure those were attached firmly when they were put in so that if she ever had to climb her home she wouldn't damage it with her talons.  They also didn't start until much higher than a human could jump.

Once she was even with Brenna's balcony she carefully moved to glance into the room.  Brenna's overhead lights were still on and the television was as well.  The girl, however, was asleep on the chair by the window, covered with a blanket.

"Oh Brenna."  Demona whispered, even though the child couldn't hear her through the door.  "You're so desperate.  Why do you need to find a gargoyle so badly?"  She had no doubt that the girl was watching for her again.  Brenna had been a bit tired looking ever since she'd seen Demona that once.  Demona had to cut down the amount of time she watched her young human, because Brenna spent far more time looking out these windows now.

Sleeping in that chair wouldn't be comfortable.  Brenna would be sore when she woke up if she stayed there all night.  Unfortunately Demona didn't know how sound a sleeper Brenna was, so she couldn't risk going in to move the child herself.  Well, perhaps a little neck pain would help discourage her from staying in that chair so late.  Demona watched the young girl sleep for a few moments before pushing off of the mansion and gliding to the other side, where her bedroom was.

After some time brushing out her wind swept hair Demona sighed.  She opened her bedroom door, walked down the hall and knocked loudly on the girl's door.  "Time to go to bed Brenna.  Turn out the lights and get some sleep."  She them moved quickly back to her own room before the girl could answer the door.  Brenna would get at least a few hours of sleep in a real bed before waking up for school.

********

Brenna grabbed her lunch and moved towards the cafeteria tables.  This was one of the big differences between the schools.  This school had only around 200 students and Brenna didn't want to know how much tuition must be to be able to afford everything they had here.  No wonder her mother couldn't send her.  

The entire school had lunch at the same time and there wasn't as sharp a difference between grade levels.  People could take any classes they wanted, they didn't need to wait until they were in the right grade.  A hand shot up in the air and Brenna started towards it.  The others had gotten their lunches faster, Brenna had picked the slow line.  Gencie moved her binder so that Brenna had a place to set her tray.  Brenna had found her the second day of classes and they'd become friends rather quickly.  On top of that Brenna was adopted into Gencie's group of friends.  It was a completely new experience for the girl used to eating alone and having no one to talk to.

"Did you catch what the assignment was in Ms. Cysinger's class?"  Allaine asked as soon as Brenna got comfortable.  Brenna just grinned at him and decided to scare the boy.  He should have been paying attention rather than trying to finish his math homework for the next class.

"Well, she wants us to research Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  Find out what scholars think, compare his message to the world of his day, you know all the typical stuff."

Allaine paled a bit and Brenna tried to keep the grin off her face.  "But we haven't been studying Shakespeare."

"This is to get ready so that we can.  We'll be starting the Shakespeare unit in two days."

"When's the paper due?  How big does it need to be?"

Brenna looked him right in the face.  "Two day, to start off the lecture.  It needs to be a twelve pager.  Shouldn't be too hard."

"Twelve pages?!  On scholarly interpretations?!"  Allaine's voice rose in panic and Brenna couldn't help but chuckle.  Lily had been watching this in silence but now she laughed.

"Man, she's totally messing with you.  We just need to read the rest of our book and be ready to talk about it in class tomorrow."  Lily was in their class too.  Gencie was in Journalism instead.  

"That was mean."  Allaine grinned.  "Finish the book, I can do that.  I'm never asking you about assignments again, you've got a cruel streak."

Brenna grinned at him,  "Pay attention in class."  She then started to eat.  

"So, what you do this weekend?"  Gencie asked.  This was the first Brenna had seen her today, because it was their afternoon classes that they shared.

"Dominique took me to the museum, and we went out to eat."  Brenna felt a little odd talking about her home life now that it was so different from other peoples.  Her friends had already heard about her mother's death and the fact that she was living with the CEO of NightStone.

"How are things going with her?"  Lily asked with a concerned expression on her face.  Brenna's previously good mood soured a little.

"We get along great, but…"  Brenna sighed.  "I just don't know."

"She'd be crazy to not want to keep you."  Allaine smiled at her.  "You're a Cordova kid.  Don't get much more prestigious than that.  Not to mention when you aren't trying to give me a heart attack you're actually pretty nice."

"I don't really want to talk about this."  Brenna stared down at her plate and made a real effort to put her vegetables on her fork so she didn't have to see her friends' pity.  She sometimes felt like a stray dog, begging for a home.

"So…"  Gencie started.  "I got roped into covering Career week for the school paper."  Gencie didn't sound thrilled.  "It means I have to go to EVERY presentation, while the reporters get to divide it all up."  

"Hey, don't complain so much."  Allaine mock glared.  "I'm on the committee organizing that.  Me, some other student and a bunch of parents and teachers.  It really could be worse.  Try my job.  I have to go to every presentation and have to be part of endless meetings."  He then turned to Brenna and Lily, "Enjoy your freedom ladies, once your sophomores you'll be roped into running something or being on some committee."  Brenna remembered the counselor telling her and Dominique about that.  The sophomores and juniors were required to be a part of something, running the student store, being on a committee, or some other thing.  They had a choice of what they did, but it was required.  The seniors got out of it because they'd be doing things to get ready for college, and the freshman, like Brenna and Lily had one years grace before service to learn how the school runs.  

Gencie stared at Brenna, "You really need to join the paper as a photojournalist with me."

"You just don't want to suffer alone."  Brenna would prefer to be a reporter if she had to join the paper, but those on the school paper had to stay after school often, and Brenna had to work.  Her scholarship was tied to her job.  "Sorry, can't.  I have a job."

"Yeah, I told my mom where you work and she didn't believe me."  Lily interrupted with a real energy to her voice.  "She says it's sooo hard to get hired on there.  She'd tried several times before she finally landed a job down the street instead."

"What's your mom do anyhow?"  Allaine asked.  Lily hadn't ever mentioned her mother working before.  They all knew her dad was a cosmetic surgeon, but nothing about her mom.  Brenna felt a bit uncomfortable whenever anyone's mother became the topic of conversation.  It just made her feel out of place, and she wasn't really ready to talk about her own mother yet.  It had only been a month since she died.

"She's an accountant."  Lily obviously found that less interesting than her dad's job.  "So, how did you get hired on there?"

"I was just in the right place at the right time."  Brenna felt her face blushing.  She still wasn't sure why Dominique had hired her.  It really wasn't like the woman to hire a stranger out of the blue like she had with Brenna.

********

After lunch Demona was doing a brief walk about in her Accounting department to remind the employees whom it was they worked for.  She felt the need to reinforce her dominance today.  She scowled at scared looking accountants and their office support as she walked around the cubicles.  The conversation she'd overheard this morning didn't please her at all.  It was no secret around NightStone that Demona had taken in their youngest employee after Candace's death, but Demona hadn't been prepared for the employees to feel that it softened her or made her any less intimidating.  She needed to find someone on this floor to publicly humiliate so that they all realized that no matter what she had going on at home, she was still Ms. Destine and she'd put up with nothing less than the best from her people.  She really wished she'd been able to see who it was that was gossiping about her earlier so that she could target them, but unfortunately she didn't.

"Who's responsible for maintaining this breakroom?!"  Her voice rose as soon as she found something remotely out of place.  It was a minor glitch, so her coming down on this person would have the proper effect of making everyone very careful around her for a while.

Once she was done yelling at the scared looking receptionist she went back to her office and slipped into her secret room with all the surveillance equipment to see how her staff dealt with what happened.  She liked to see the fallout and to know if there was anyone that she should make sure to put in his or her place later.

"I can't believe she yelled at her for that long because coffee grounds had accidentally fallen out of the garbage."  One young accountant was talking to another.  Demona just smirked at the hushed way they talked, not realizing that this entire building had surveillance cameras and microphones.

"How is she?"

"I think she's crying in the bathroom.  Ms. Destine was downright cruel."  The blonde male accountant sighed.  "I think I should get her flowers or something to try and make up for it.  She's a pretty good receptionist."

"If Ms. Destine goes this crazy over a messy floor, I can't imagine what living with her must be like.  That poor kid, like loosing her mother wasn't bad enough.  Living in terror of Ms. Destine's temper… I don't know how Brenna manages to smile at all."  Demona's pleased smirk started to fade as conversation once again turned to her private life.  She took note of their names this time and flipped off her monitor.  The employees had never been aware of her private life before and she'd heard wild speculation about it, but having Brenna at the mansion was the only solid information they'd ever had.  That had to be why they seemed to talk about it so often.

Later she walked past the file room and heard the mail clerk in there with Brenna.  Demona slowed down to listen, not liking a man five years older than Brenna hanging around like that.  There was little reason to interrupt the girl's work.

"Your hair is pretty cool that way.  Were you thinking of dying it a color?"  His flirtatious tone made Demona's eyes widen and she started to growl lightly.  

"No, it's fine black."  Brenna sounded very disinterested in talking with him, but when Demona moved just a little so that she could see into the room he was leaning against a file cabinet to make himself more comfortable. 

"Well it looks good."  His tone was now so very inappropriate for talking to a child.  Demona's hands clenched into fists, but she waited to see how bad he would get.  She wanted to know if she should fire him or wait until it was night and kill him.  After Brenna ignored his comment he seemed a bit put off.  "So what's it like living with her?"  He was asking, obviously wanting the latest gossip.

Brenna sounded irritated, "I have work to do and I doubt she would want me to sit here and talk about her when I'm falling behind in my filing."  Demona felt a small smirk cross her lips.  She recognized that irritated and commanding tone.  Brenna was imitating Demona to get the man to leave her alone.  He took the hint and Demona's eyebrow rose as he noticed her.  She followed him out into the main reception area for her office and grabbed his arm.

"A man your age really shouldn't be pursuing minors."  She glared at him.  She wasn't about to let some lecherous human near the girl again.  "In fact… you're fired.  Get out of here in five minutes and I won't send security after you."  He must have thought he could use Brenna's recent loss to get into the girls pants.  Brenna was too smart to fall for that, but Demona didn't like that her… that Brenna had to deflect advances while at work.  She's just a child.

Once he was out of sight she called security anyhow.  Best to scare him away.

"Do you have men hit on you often?"  Demona leaned against the doorway and watched the girl.  She seemed tense.  It had bothered her more than she wanted to admit.  Demona's voice got softer, "I fired him."

Brenna looked down at her pile of papers for a moment, and Demona wished she could read her mind.  "I…"

"Did he scare you?"  Demona took a step into the room and closed the door behind her.  He'd seemed too obvious in his interests, and while Demona had occasionally had to push off interested men, Brenna was still young.  The scene replayed in her mind and she remembered how he stood in front of the only exit to the room.  Demona clenched her fist as she wondered if she should have gone with her second choice and waiting until nightfall to deal with him.  If he died right after being fired the police would investigate NightStone, she couldn't act right away now.

"No, I wasn't scared."  Brenna answered, but she still seemed nervous.  He'd at least made Brenna uncomfortable.  

Demona moved closer and pushed some of that hair he'd commented on out of Brenna's eyes.  "If anyone ever makes you feel uncomfortable you tell me.  I won't tolerate anyone…"  Her words trailed off as she recognized the fierce protectiveness she felt.

"I will."  Brenna spoke softly and Demona just nodded.  She felt a bit distracted by her reaction to the whole thing.  There was only one person she felt this protective of before.  How did Brenna managed to worm her way into…  Demona sighed and walked away to let the girl work.  

Brenna was a human girl.  She belonged with her own kind.  Demona made a call to that useless social worker to see how things were progressing with finding Brenna a new home.  When Rachel didn't have any new news to give her Demona didn't bother wasting energy yelling at her.

********

Brenna sat next to her balcony doors once again staring at the sky.  It was a clear night, which always made visibility easier.  Her camera was in her lap with her hands resting on it.  

The shadow in the sky was so small it could be a bird, but Brenna picked up the camera and used it to get a better look.  She'd made sure to get one with a very good zoom.  A smile started across her face as she recognized arms and legs.  It was no bird.  She had her.  Brenna started to snap pictures quickly, wanting to get as many as possible.  The gargoyle wasn't Angela, she looked a bit different and dressed differently.  Brenna found that the zoom on her camera just wasn't good enough, she couldn't get any real details.  She wanted to see this gargoyle, but still these pictures would prove to Dominique that a gargoyle was gliding over their home.

Once the gargoyle moved over the roof Brenna pulled the camera away from her face and waited to see if she'd return.  After a half hour she decided that was probably the only pass over she'd get.  Brenna carefully removed her film and prepared it to take to school.  Gencie would let her use the dark room keys.  Even though she was thrilled to have proof she didn't want anyone to know they had a gargoyle in the neighborhood.  Tina's threats showed that the gargoyles still had enemies and Brenna didn't want to lead anyone to this female.  Gencie was a good friend, but she loved having gossip and if she found out about this Brenna might as well write an article for the school newspaper.

Brenna put her roll of film in her back pack and went to her desk to pull out another roll.  This one had more innocent pictures that she could show Gencie, pictures of artwork and people.  It would also explain her need for the darkroom.

"I got her Lacey."  Brenna whispered happily.  "She was real."

Brenna took a deep breath as she walked down the stairs to go have breakfast.  Once she saw Dominique she decided to put the second part of the plan into action.  "Dominique, I need to stay after school today.  We're working on a project and it's the only time I'm available since we have to come right home after work."  

"Fine."  Dominique didn't even seem suspicious.  Good.  Brenna wanted to surprise her with the pictures.  "What kind of project."  Uh… Brenna had to think quickly.

"Allaine and Gencie are helping out with the Career Week thing and I promised I'd help them with the posters."  Her eyes became a little pleading, "I promise I won't  miss work often, and I'm all caught up on the filing now."

"I already said it was okay Brenna."  Dominique gave her a small smile.  "You can have friends you know.  Of course we already talked about what you shouldn't be sharing with your friends."  Brenna nodded.  The strange rules were a secret, and it wasn't like they hurt anyone.

********

Demona stood in the boardroom while waiting for her department managers to leave.  She took a sip of her coffee and watched them picking up their notes and leaving.  She also noticed one man moving more slowly than the others, obviously trying to be the last one out.  That was unusual.  Normally they all ran like rats fleeing a sinking ship, afraid that Ms. Destine will think of yet another thing for them to do if they didn't.

"Jane, call Gregory and tell him we'll be leaving to pick up Brenna at five."  The girl wanted to stay pretty late at school, so they'd just get her on the way home.  The receptionist left, leaving Demona alone with the Mail room supervisor.  If he said one thing about her firing his pedophiliac employee she'd find a replacement for him as well.

"Well, Mr. Vega."  Demona glared at him, "Are you going to tell me why you are still here or did you just want to waste my time?"

He looked properly nervous then.  "Ms. Destine, I had no idea that Scott was hitting on Brenna like that.  I just want you to know that I would never have given him this floor if I knew what kind of man he was."  Oh, he was just worried that she would take out his whole department for this.

She sneered at him, "If you show such bad judgment with your employees again, it won't just be the mail clerk that loses his job."  Drake's eyes widened a bit in fear.  She then just marched out of the room and back into her office.

********

Brenna spent the time waiting for her pictures to develop actually helping out by making some Career Week posters.  Of course her friends weren't here like she'd told Dominique, but she wanted to have been lying as little as possible.  Allaine had given her a funny look as he pulled out the supplies and information so that Brenna could work on that.  He then went to his planning meeting and left her alone.  

Gencie had also, as predicted, handed over the dark room key without any trouble at all.  So Brenna took over the art room after school and was being very productive.  

At a little before five Brenna started cleaning up quickly.  She hide the developed pictures of the gargoyle in her textbook and carried the others out in her arms so that if Gencie was still around after her newspaper meeting she'd see normal pictures.  Brenna also stacked the posters she made and carried them to the office so she could leave them with the receptionist.  She'd make sure the teacher in charge of the Career Week got them.

She was almost to the door when she heard fast footsteps coming down the nearly deserted hallway.  "Brenna, wait up!"  Gencie called out so Brenna turned to look at her friend.  Gencie made a funny voice, "I'm free… free.. from meeting hell!"  She grinned at Brenna and started to walk beside her through the front doors.  "Next year you have to join the school paper, so that I have at least one person to talk to when Mr. Flemming starts rambling.  We should have gotten out of there a half hour ago, but he started talking about something or other and it had nothing to do with anything.  All the other committees always get to go home before us."

"You aren't really selling this right."  Brenna leaned against the wall at the bottom of the stairs so she could wait for Dominique.  "You are supposed to tell me how great it is so I want it, not that you hate suffering that hell alone.  Don't go into sales."

Gencie just stuck her tongue out as a response.  "So, where are the pictures?  I want to see if you have what it takes to work with me next year."  Brenna handed over the decoys and watched her friend studying them.

"You have a funny idea about interesting."  Gencie flipped through pictures of art and random people that Brenna had just taken pictures of for practice.  "But at least most of these aren't fuzzy."

"Hey, I'm just learning to use that camera.  The later ones were much better."  Brenna took the pictures out of Gencie's hand to show her.

"Oh, I see.  And you didn't even get your thumb in the shot, good job."  Gencie teased her.

The limo pulling up in front of them made Brenna look up.  "Oh, I gotta go."  She took the pictures Gencie was looking at away from her and picked up her backpack.

The window of the limo rolled down and Dominique was there watching her.  "Is that Ms. Destine?"  Gencie asked quietly as they finished going down the steps towards the sidewalk.

"Yes."  Brenna pulled the strap of her backpack up a bit more.

"She's younger than I thought she'd be."

Brenna glanced at the redhead obviously studying Brenna's friend.  "Yeah, I know.  I think she's younger than my mom."

"You don't know how old she is?"

"It hasn't come up."  Brenna sighed at the way Gencie gave her a disbelieving look.  Dominique tensed up when Brenna started asking personal questions, so Brenna didn't ask them often.

Once they were in the limo and heading home Dominique glanced back at Gencie one more time.  "So that is one of your friends?"

Brenna nodded, "Yeah, that's Gencie.  She's the one I told you worked on the paper."

"Have you put any thought into what you'll do next year?"  Dominique was looking interested.  Brenna wished she had a good answer.

"I don't know.  I want to pick something that will be helpful… you know when I want to start a career, but I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up."

"Do you have any ideas?"

Brenna sighed, "No."  Brenna would much rather be talking about the pictures she had hidden in her backpack, but she was waiting until they were alone.  Dominique may act like Gregory was invisible, but Brenna was always very aware of his being there.  She liked the man, but this was between Brenna and Dominique.

"Yes, I suppose there are a lot of choices for a young hu.. woman today.  It might be hard to make a decision."

Brenna just nodded.  She was wishing that there was less traffic.  She was really looking forward to proving to Dominique that she'd really seen a gargoyle.  Brenna had also been wondering why that gargoyle would be so far from the city and she couldn't help but wonder if it had anything to do with the strange rules Dominique had for Brenna.  


	4. Not So Alone Part 3

**Not So Alone**

Part 3

By Princess Alexandria

Princess_alex24@hotmail.com

Brenna went up to her room to drop off her bookbag and pull out the pictures.  She had five that were clear enough to know what the picture was of.  She glanced out her bedroom window and noticed Gregory leaving in his own car.  His work day was over.  Great, that meant they were finally alone.

She almost ran down the stairs in her eagerness to show Dominique what she had.  The redhead was looking through the cupboards, obviously trying to plan dinner.  Brenna started talking as soon as the woman glanced at her.  "I want to show you something."  Brenna smiled and moved closer to Dominique.  "I have proof.  I took her picture and it isn't Angela."  She handed the pictures over to Dominique quickly and then just watched her while she looked at them.

Dominique's reaction wasn't at all what Brenna had expected.  The woman's eyes stared at the pictures as if they were dangerous and looked carefully at each one as she flipped through the pile.  "I wasn't crazy, see?"  Brenna spoke a bit more calmly, not liking the tension in Dominique's back or the silence.  "She really is around here."

"Who all did you show these pictures too?"  Dominique hissed at her without looking up from the proof.  Brenna's eyes widened, recognizing the tone from work.  Dominique usually sounded like this right before she yelled at someone.

"No one.  I developed them myself and no one saw them."  Brenna's eyes had gone wide at the unexpected hostility.

"I saw you showing your little friend pictures."  Dominique looked up and stared into Brenna's eyes.  The expression on her face was far from comforting.  Brenna swallowed her fear.

"I showed her the pictures I took while learning to use my camera.  She didn't see these.  No one did."  Brenna stared at the woman that wasn't at all surprised to see a gargoyle was near her home.  "You know her don't you?"  The rules about staying in her room at night started to make more sense.  That and the fact that there were off limits parts of the mansion.  "She's a friend of yours?"  Brenna's eyes slid off of Dominique as she started to put together the pieces of the puzzle.  It was every night she had to stay in her room, and this mansion was an hour out of the city by car.  She had no idea how far that would be to glide.

"Is this all of the pictures?"  Dominique interrupted Brenna's thoughts and the girl's eyes traveled back to the woman.  

"Yeah."

"And the negatives?  I want everything."  Dominique's angry clip was still dangerously close to yelling.  Brenna felt tears gathering in her eyes.

"I have those in my room."  A tear started to fall.  "You know I'd never do anything to hurt her.  I wouldn't let anyone know you had…"  Brenna had to take a deep breath.  She'd just wanted to share this with Dominique.  "I wouldn't do anything to hurt your friend."  Brenna stared into the woman's green eyes.  "She's your friend isn't she?  That's why I have to stay in the room at night?  Does she live here?"

"You should have just dropped it when I told you to Brenna."  Dominique didn't confirm anything, but Brenna knew she was right. She had to be.  The weird rules all made sense now.  

"You could have trusted me."  Brenna whispered.  "You know how I feel about them.  You could have trusted me."

Dominique just glared at her for a moment.  "Get me your camera and the negatives."  When Brenna just stared at her, the woman's voice rose, "NOW!"  Brenna's back went rigid for a moment in shock of how loud Dominique's voice could really get, before she spun around to obey.

********  

Demona watched the girl sprint out the room, much like she used to when she had a time limit for getting Demona's lunch.  Demona's fists clenched the pictures so tight all of them crumpled.  Her heart hammered as a familiar fear hit her.  Brenna was a threat, she knew too much.  The conclusions the girl was making were just the start, she'd be more alert now.  Brenna would find out her secret and then she'd lose NightStone, and have to move away.  She'd have to move away from Angela.  No, this wouldn't work.  So far Brenna only had theories and no proof.  

Demona ripped the photos up into small pieces and set them on the counter, to be burned later.  She then picked up the phone.  Once Rachel's voicemail answered Demona started her message.  "Send me information about these group homes.  Perhaps I shouldn't be dismissing them without looking into them first."  

A gasp at the kitchen door drew her attention and Demona saw the girl going a deathly white.  "No."  Brenna whispered as the camera and negatives fell out of her fingers to the floor.  "I'm so sorry, please don't."  The look of terror on Brenna's face made Demona hang up and take a step closer.  Tears were falling down the girl's cheeks and she looked completely betrayed and hurt.  "I… I promise I'll do anything.  Please…"

"I can't raise a child here."  Demona stood firmly on this.  "These group homes might not be that bad.  I'll still cover your tuition, in exchange for your silence about…"

"My God."  Brenna's lip was trembling.  "I'd never… I thought…"  Brenna stopped trying to talk and just stared at her.  Demona didn't like what she saw in the girl's eyes.  "You don't have to send me away.  I'd never tell."  

Demona shook her head just a little.  "Brenna, I told you this was temporary right from the start."  Brenna didn't respond, she just turned and left.  Demona stared after her until she heard the fast moving footsteps running up her stairs.  She then sat down slowly at the kitchen island and stared at the pieces of paper that used to be pictures of her.  She was sure that if she were in her night form, her more sensitive ears would hear painful sobbing upstairs.  "I did tell you that it wasn't forever."  She spoke quietly to the girl that was no longer in the room to listen.

In all honesty, letting the girl go with all that she knew, even with all the false conclusions the girl had drawn, was still dangerous.  Demona really shouldn't let her go, but she just didn't have the will to kill the girl.  She knew that her lack of strength would come back to haunt her.  Demona's vision started to swim as tears started down her own cheeks.  She really should, it was the only way to be sure… but she couldn't.

********

Brenna felt like her heart had been ripped out again.  It actually ached in her chest.  She curled up on her bed and held the pillow tightly to her chest.  Dominique was getting rid of her.  All Brenna wanted to do was show the woman she was right.  She should have realized that the strange rules had to be there for a reason.  Who was that gargoyle?  Was she more than a friend for Dominique, was that why she was willing to just toss Brenna out like this?  "I wouldn't have cared."  Brenna whispered, her voice raspy and weak.  Dominique could be sleeping with that gargoyle and Brenna wouldn't have cared, wouldn't have told anyone.

"God, Mom, why did you have to die?"  Brenna's tears were making the pillow damp.  She hurt so much and she just wanted to have someone… she really thought Dominique cared about her.  If Brenna couldn't have her own mother, she'd have been okay to have Dominique, but now some strangers were gonna take her away.  People who didn't know her and wouldn't care.  They wouldn't be as smart and they wouldn't understand Brenna like Dominique did.  Hell, they might even be Quarrymen.

Dominique acted like paying for the school would make it all better.  Brenna gritted her teeth.  It wasn't the money or the damned school.  Brenna wanted to stay with Dominique.

********

Demona stood on the girl's balcony staring in the window.  Brenna hadn't come out to eat, and hadn't even opened the door to take a plate of food.  She was apparently not hungry.  Demona had almost ordered her to eat, but just wrapped up the plate she'd made and put it in the fridge instead.  Brenna had snack food in her room if she really needed it.

It was only shortly after nightfall when Demona moved to perch outside Brenna's room to make sure the girl was alright.  She wasn't happy with the part of her that kept telling her that Brenna was an unacceptable risk now, the part that tortured her with images of how she should kill the girl.  How she could do it quickly so that Brenna wouldn't be in any pain.  She knew that few people knew the girl well enough to know she wasn't suicidal, or that she'd never run away and get hurt.  No one alive knew Brenna better than Demona did.

No one knew what Brenna looked like when she was excited about a potential debate with Demona, or how the girl would get that little half smile whenever Demona nodded to her at work.  No one knew that the girl that was so smart she warranted an invitation to the most exclusive school in the state listened to different types of music for each subject she studied, or that she always told her cat goodnight before going to bed.

Brenna was hugging that cat to her and staring blankly at the T.V.  It was a familiar look on the young girl that had suffered such horrible losses lately.  She wasn't seeing anything, just pretending to.  Demona almost wondered if she were to walk in right now if Brenna would even notice the gargoyle in her bedroom.

The girl's homework sat on the desk, untouched.  Brenna had always done her homework first before doing anything else.  She took her schoolwork seriously, and Demona knew it was to show her how much Brenna appreciated what she'd given her.  Demona gritted her teeth as her feet wrapped more tightly around the railing on the balcony.  That was one other thing Brenna was, grateful and easy to please.  

"Why am I torturing myself like this?"  Demona was disgusted with herself and turned to glide off the balcony.  She may not kill the girl, but she sure couldn't keep her.  Brenna had proven more intelligent that Demona had anticipated.  Eventually she'd figure out that Dominique Destine was more than she seemed.  "Why would I even want to raise a human?"  She hissed out angrily as she glided higher.  

She was in the city before she even realized that was where she was heading.  Demona glided around the skyscrapers aimlessly for an untold amount of time while trying to not think of anything.  That was ruined when she noticed Angela suddenly slip out between two buildings in front of her.

"Daughter?"  Her voice rose in surprise and she noticed Angela glance up to see her.  The girl looked a bit surprised and then suddenly suspicious.  Eyes that had, for a while, looked at her with caring held nothing but wariness now.

"Demona."  Angela's voice was cold.  "You have no daughter."  Angela then banked a hard right and slipped between two other buildings.  Demona just stared after her for a moment before sighing heavily and moving higher so she could glide back home.

"No, I don't suppose I do."  She whispered to herself.  Angela's words hurt in a way that was completely new.  Angela was a bright girl, but she'd fallen for all of Goliath's unrealistic dreams.  Demona tilted a bit in the air as the thought distracted her and she missed the change in the air current.

"Pay attention to the surroundings."  She muttered angrily to herself.  After years of always being battle ready, she'd become so distracted that it could have easily been a bullet rather than a wind gust that sent her toppling.  She forcefully pushed her thoughts away and just focused on gliding home.

********

Brenna had barely gotten any sleep and felt like she was part dead from the tired and the pain.  She lumbered downstairs and sat quietly at the kitchen island in front of the breakfast Dominique had cooked.  

She was aware of Dominique watching her while eating her own meal, but Brenna was still barely hungry.  She took small mouthfuls, but mostly she was just pushing her food about on the plate.

"Eat, you didn't have any dinner."  Dominique sounded irritated and Brenna just glanced up at her for a moment before taking another mouthful of scrambled eggs.  In the end she'd only eaten about half of it, and she felt a bit sick, but she didn't say anything.  

The ride to school was tense and Brenna stared out the window so she wouldn't have to look at the redhead seated next to her.  Dominique wouldn't be impressed with begging, and Brenna would probably start crying again if the woman tried to explain why she couldn't keep her.  Brenna didn't even know the gargoyle living at the mansion, but right now she hated that female for ripping her life apart like this.  If Dominique didn't have the gargoyle she might have kept Brenna.

"Brenna, I may be out of the office when you get to work."  Dominique set down the reports she was reading and started to talk when they were halfway to school.  

"okay."  Brenna sighed as she watched a nearby car full of parents and two kids drive by.  

"I want you to take a cab to work, because I'll have Gregory with me."

"Fine."

"Are you even listening to me?"  Dominique snapped at her.  

Brenna just turned to glance at the woman.  "Yeah, get a cab I don't get Gregory."

"I don't appreciate this attitude."  Dominique was still ranting, but Brenna just turned to stare out the window.  "You leave this attitude at home!"

"I don't have a home."  Brenna spoke quietly.  "I don't have anyone.  I'm just alone… alone and homeless."  Brenna felt more tears threatening to fall so she held her eyes opened with determination.  She wasn't going to let any more fall.  Her comment did make Dominique go quiet.  That was good, because Brenna wasn't up to talking right now.  

Lily and Gencie was walking up to the school when the limo pulled up.  Brenna grabbed her bookbag and got out without saying anything to the woman she could feel staring at her.

"Here's some cab money."  Dominique interrupted the closing of the door.  Brenna reached out and took the cash, shoving it into her pants pocket.  "I'll see you at work."

"Yeah."  Brenna bit her tongue to keep from crying and shut the limo door.  

"God, Brenna what happened?"  Lily moved closer and Brenna just shook her head.  She couldn't talk right now.  "Are you alright?"  Lily didn't catch the hint.

"No,"  Brenna's voice cracked.  "Let's just get to class."

********

Demona looked out the window at the building as they drove up.  Rachel had given her the address of the one group home that had an opening right now and Demona had cancelled her early afternoon appointments to go check it out, even though Rachel had told her that the kids would all be in school at the time.  

Brenna's attitude this morning had been a bit of a surprise.  The girl was far more hurt than the situation warranted.  Demona had told her right from the start it was only for a little while, and she'd even kept Brenna much longer than she intended.  She pushed those thoughts away as Gregory opened the door for her. 

"What?"  She snapped at him when she noticed him glancing around with a slightly distasteful expression on his face.  Normally he'd stay quiet or apologize for his brief unprofessional attitude, but this time he looked her right in the eye.

"Brenna is a very sweet girl.  She doesn't belong in one of these places."

"That is none of your concern."  She glared at him and marched up the walkway towards the building to see the woman in charge of this place.

Alexandria looked tired and worn out as she held the door open for Demona to enter.  The woman's hair was speckled with gray, even though she wasn't old enough for it.  She also looked more suited to be a truck driver than a foster parent. as she gave Demona the tour of the place while they waited for Rachel to show up.  It had worn furniture and small bedrooms that Alexandria informed her Brenna would have to share, because like all the other group homes this place was over crowded.  Still, it wasn't a hovel and Brenna was good at adapting. 

"She has a cat."  Demona mentioned when she noticed a dog in the yard next door.

"Oh no.  The kids don't get no pets."  Alexandria was very firm on that.  "They stink up the place and no other group homes would take them either."  The woman's lack of education was very evident in her voice.  She sounded like a simple wit.  Demona rolled her eyes at the idiocy of the humans to put this woman in charge of several children.

"Well, surely you could make an exception."  Demona glared at the short woman.  If Brenna thought she was alone now, losing Lacey would completely destroy her.  The girl needed that cat, she relied on it for someone to hold, for affection, and Demona didn't want to have to keep it.

"No, no exceptions.  If she transfers she'd lose it anyhow, and I ain't gonna get stuck with it."

"Transfers?"

Alexandria looked at Demona like she was completely clueless.  "Yeah, we get kids in and out."

"And why would that be?"  Demona could see Rachel walking up the driveway, but kept most of her attention on the woman in front of her.  

"Well, Juvi takes some of them and we get more than we can handle, so you know… they shuffle to make it right."

They talked more about the rules and what the kids received when they were there.  Rachel kept talking and the woman was sounding a bit more optimistic about placing Brenna finally.  Demona hated that she had to do this, but the alternatives for Brenna wouldn't be that great.  She was letting the girl live and would take care of her financially.

They stopped by the limo and Gregory stood waiting for the signal they were ready to leave so that he could open the door.  Rachel chose that moment to get a look on her face, regret.  Demona didn't like that one.  "One drawback will be her schooling.  None of the homes can drive her to that school."

Demona hadn't thought about that.  "I could pay for her cab fare.  She doesn't belong in the public schools."  The expression on Rachel's face told her the woman didn't think that would work either.  She was about to lay down the law on this one thing when her phone rang.  If she hadn't recognized the phone number, she would have ignored it.  "Hello." 

"Ms. Destine?"

"Yes."  She snapped at the woman on the phone, not liking the interruption. 

"This is Ms. Pogge from Cordova High.  Brenna has skipped school."  The woman sounded a hint irritated herself.  "She went to her first few classes and then…"

"I will be right there."  Demona spoke through gritted teeth.  She hung up and addressed Rachel.  "I have a business emergency.  I need to go."  She lied, because acting out like this might jeopardize her custody of the girl.

"About the group home?"  Rachel started talking faster.

"Well, I'll get back to you."  She then slammed the limo door shut before Gregory could deal with it.  Demona stared out the window while her hands clenched up.  Brenna really picked a bad day to decide to play hooky.  

"Where to Ma'am."  Gregory was all business when he rolled down the divider to ask.

"The school.  Brenna's skipped and I want to see if her little friends know where I can find her."  

******** 

Brenna felt very out of place as she walked up the hill and sat down on the grass.  It was barely April, so it wasn't too comfortable out.  "Mom."  Brenna stared at the headstone that Dominique had helped her pick out.  "Mom, I don't know what to do."  She desperately wished that her mother could answer her.  "What am I supposed to do now?"

********

They were almost to the school when Demona suddenly had an idea of where Brenna would be.  "Gregory, turn left here."  

Demona got out of the limo and walked past the gates.  She'd been right, she could see Brenna's coat from here.  The tension she'd felt ever since she'd heard the girl was missing started to leave her and she walked quietly up to see what Brenna was doing.  It was a human custom to visit with the dead, one that she'd never fully understood.  

"I wanted to stay with her."  Brenna's voice started to reach her and Demona moved off the path to approach through the trees so that she wouldn't interrupt.  She'd like to hear this.  Her heels weren't easy to walk in the grass with, and she silently cursed her human form as she managed anyhow.  "She's a lot nicer than you thought.  I like her."  Brenna was staring at the tombstone like it was a person that could talk back.  Demona felt a little bit of pain at that thought.  She remembered talking to and ranting at Goliath during his enchanted stone sleep, but he wasn't really dead at the time.  "I thought she was like me."  That comment made Demona stare at the girl harder.  How did she think that, what was she seeing in common?

Brenna was quiet for a while just staring with her unseeing eyes.  "I hate you sometimes."  Brenna whispered so quietly that Demona had to strain to hear it.  "I hate you for doing this to me.  I hate you for leaving me alone."  The tears in the girls voice were surely on her face as well.  More silence as the chill in the air registered to Demona.  She glanced around once and noticed that there weren't any other visitors.  It might have something to do with it looking like it could rain any moment.  "I'm taking good care of Lacey for you."  Demona grimaced.  That damned cat… why did Brenna have to be so attached to that damned cat?  The girl wouldn't take it well when she found out that the homes wouldn't let her keep it.

"I miss you mommy."

Demona couldn't take it anymore.  She stepped out from her hiding place and finished walking to the girl.  She stood beside Brenna's sitting form and just looked at her, not sure what to say.  Brenna took care of that for her when the girl lunged forward.  Demona almost thought she was being attacked and was tensing up for battle when she realized that her arms were full of a crying child.  Brenna clung to like she was the only thing keeping her afloat in the ocean.  Demona hesitantly moved to hug Brenna back.

"You feel cold."  Demona spoke softly when she noticed the chill to Brenna's skin.  She'd obviously been out here a while to get this cold.  "Let's go home."

********

Brenna was waiting for Dominique to yell at her for leaving the school, but the woman was quiet as they rode back to the mansion.  Brenna had tried to pay attention in her classes, but she wasn't able to concentrate at all.  After having the third teacher in a row ask if she was alright Brenna had just left and kept walking for a few blocks, before using the cab fare Dominique gave her to visit her mother.

She felt a little bad that this was the first visit she'd done since they'd buried her.  Hopefully her mother realized how hard it was to go there and wouldn't feel abandoned.

"Why don't you go take a warm bath.  I don't want you getting sick."  Dominique said as soon as they got inside the house.  Brenna just nodded and went upstairs.  She was cold, cold and a little numb inside.  She almost felt like it wasn't really her walking around, she felt so disconnected, and she preferred it that way.  She was tired of crying, and a part of her was embarrassed about how she'd clung to Dominique like a little baby.

********

Demona circled the mansion from far too high for Brenna's eye to catch, and since she'd confiscated the camera she knew that Brenna couldn't see her.  After a few circles she headed out towards the city again.  Dodging the buildings always gave her something else to focus on other than her own problems.

She'd never anticipated having problems like these.  She'd only hired Brenna to get on Angela's good side, but now her daughter wouldn't talk to her and she had the girl living in her home.  It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.  Her own daughter wanted nothing to do with her and this little human…  Demona sighed and soared higher into the sky.  This little human didn't want to leave her.

What did she want?  Did what Demona want really matter?  It was dangerous to trust any human, they would always betray.  Demona grimaced and banked a hard right to avoid the Empire State building.  Normal humans would betray, but would Brenna?  She'd once told Brooklyn that perhaps the detective was the exception that proved the rule, and no matter what Demona thought about Maza, she hadn't betrayed the clan yet.  Could Brenna be an exception?

Demona kept her course far enough away from the castle that they shouldn't notice her as she dodge buildings while moving slower.  Her thoughts were filled with a human child, one that… was hers.  Demona moved to just land as that thought hit her.  It couldn't be.  

"No."  She whispered, "I can't."  Her head shook from side to side.  

The red beam on her chest caught her attention and Demona moved quickly to try and get out of it's path.  The sound was nearly silent as the bullet tore out of the gun but her scream of pain wasn't.  She fell from the building and was halfway down before her unsteady wings caught the wind.  The pain in her chest felt like fire, but she didn't risk looking at it until she'd glided several blocks and no other shots were fired.  Breathing wasn't easy, and from the placement of the hole Demona realized it may have missed the heart, but it did hit her lung.  And the blood… she pulled her hand away from the wound to see her own blood dripping from it.  

Home, she needed to get home.  If the humans found her weakened they'd capture her or try and kill her, injuring her further.

Her wing ached where the bullet had passed through, but it was healing.  Demona hated how she felt all the pain in spite of her ability to heal.  She was out of breath.  Damage done to major organs took longer for the magic to take care of than minor wounds.  The mansion came into view and Demona felt relief.  She wasn't sure she could stay airborne much longer.  She felt dizzy, and her vision was starting to double once in a while.

She glided lower intending to glide right into her room.  Her balance was off and she worked hard to not wobble in the air.  Just as she was getting to her destination her vision blurred again.  The loud crash as she hit the window instead of the open balcony doors was accompanied by shattering glass and Demona felt horrible pain before everything finally went black.

********

Brenna sat up, startled by the sound of glass breaking across the hallway.  "Dominique?"  She yelled out as she moved closer to her door, turning her T.V. off on the way.  "DOMINIQUE?"  She yelled even louder.  Breaking glass, someone could have broken in.  Visions of Dominque being tied up and unable to call for help filled Brenna's mind and she glanced around her room… completely lost about what to do.  She wasn't supposed to leave the room, but she knew why now.  If it wasn't a secret then why should she stay in here.  Dominique might be hurt, she could have cut herself.  

"Dammit!"  Brenna moved to her closet and pulled the short closet pole out.  It was about four feet and it would have to do since she didn't have a baseball bat.  She moved quietly towards her bedroom door, hoping desperately that there weren't intruders, because she couldn't fight anyone off with this stupid pole.

She went down the hall towards Dominique's bedroom.  She was pretty sure the sound came from there.  "Dominique?"  She called out once she was in front of the door.  If Dominique wasn't in there she had to have heard it.  That crash was loud enough to hear from anywhere in the house.

Brenna grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door.  Her heart was pounding.  She was afraid of what she'd find.  Please, please, please be okay.  Brenna begged in her mind.

The bedroom was larger than her own and it had many more windows.  The wind was making the drapes flutter around the open balcony doors and the broken window.  Brenna barely took the time to notice that, since the crumpled up figure on the bedroom floor drew her widening eyes.  The female she'd seen gliding around the mansion, the one that was Dominique's friend lay there unconscious.  There was blood on the carpet and Brenna just stared for a moment.  "Oh God."

She spun around and dashed out the bedroom door.  She wasn't even to the stairs before she started yelling.  "DOMINIQUE!  She's hurt!"  Brenna ran down the stairs so fast she stumbled a few times, and she missed quite a few stairs in her race.  "HELP!"  She couldn't believe that Dominique could miss any of this.  She ran into the kitchen where the woman liked to read her newspaper, but she wasn't there.  Brenna ran down the hall "DOMINIQUE!"  She screamed.  The gargoyle was bleeding and hurt.  She was still breathing, Brenna had seen that, but she needed help.  Where was Dominique.  Brenna felt tears of frustration and fear in her eyes as she realized she'd checked the entire downstairs.  She was alone.  She was alone with a seriously hurt gargoyle.

Her heart was pounding as she went back into Dominique's bedroom.  "I'm gonna help you."  She told the unconscious female, hoping it was the truth.  She moved closer to her and ignored the sound of broken glass under her shoes as she carefully turned the blue female onto her back.  Brenna's eyes widened as she noticed the bullet wound.  "Oh god, they shot you."  This was worse than she'd thought.  Her eyes were drawn to the blood and she had to force herself to move.  She glanced at the floor behind the gargoyle and decided that there wasn't too much glass.  She lowered her to the ground and tried to move the females arms and legs to be more comfortable.  The wings fell flat to the ground, making her look a bit like a downed kite.  Brenna almost lost it at that image.  "Can't get hysterical."  She muttered to herself.  She ran into Dominique's bathroom and ripped her towels off the rack, wet them careless of the way the water was slopping all over the counter and ran back out to the gargoyle.

"Oh god, Dominique is gonna be so upset."  Brenna pressed the towel to the bullet wound.  Dominique's friend, or maybe her lover was dying on her bedroom floor and she wasn't here to help.  The gargoyle groaned when Brenna pressed harder, trying to stop the blood.  

Brenna desperately wanted to call for an ambulance, but… she stared down at the helpless pretty gargoyle.  She couldn't defend herself, and the city was still so dangerous for their kind.  Her mind felt like it was stalled as she just held the towel on the wound and tried to think.  She had to do something.  What?  What could she do?

First Aid kit.  There had to be one.  Where?  Brenna was breathing quickly in her panic.  Where?  She took one of the gargoyles unresponsive arms and draped it over the towel to add some pressure as she ran into the bathroom.  She through open the medicine cabinet so hard the mirror banged against the wall.  Nothing.  She opened the closet where the towels and linens were and pulled them out to check behind them, messing up the orderly way they'd been stacked.  She then practically slide across the floor on her knees to rip open the cabinets under the sink.  There…  She grabbed the clearly marked box and ran back out to her patient.  This female was the reason she couldn't stay here.  Brenna kneeled down beside her.  This was the reason Dominique was sending her away.  "Hold on, I'll get you patched up."  Brenna tried to sound comforting, even though she doubted the unconscious gargoyle could hear her.  This was Dominique's friend, and Brenna didn't ever want Dominique to hurt the way Brenna did after her mother died.

She flipped open the first aid kit and just stared at what she had.  She didn't know how to do any of this.  What little she learned, she knew from TV.  She really should have watched more doctor shows.  When this is over, fewer sitcoms and more hospital shows.  Yes.  Finally she decided that she just didn't know what she was doing enough to do more than put a bandage over it.  A bandage for a gun shot wound.  That was pathetic.

Once that was done she glanced up at the clock on the wall.  Ten.  It had only been fifteen minutes.  Brenna felt like she'd run a marathon, it felt like it had been hours.  She stared down at the gargoyle, for the first time without panic in her eyes.  She'd done everything she could.  "You've got some cuts."  Brenna reached out and pulled a small piece of glass from the gargoyle's arm.  Well, maybe she should check and make sure to take care of these little cuts.

"Glass isn't good.  I'll sweep it up."  Brenna didn't want to work on getting slivers of glass out of her only to have more get in because she wasn't strong enough to move her from the place she'd fallen.  When she got up she also closed the balcony doors.

In another fifteen minutes she had the gargoyle laying on a sheet pulled off the floor in Dominique's bathroom.  All the woman's towels and sheets had ended up on the floor when Brenna was hunting for the first aid kit.  There was a pillow under the gargoyle's head and Brenna was working with a pair of tweezers to get out the slivers of glass she was able to find.  Mostly they were on her arms.  She must have blocked with her arms when she realized she was about to hit the window.  Brenna pulled out the pieces of glass, put disinfectant on it and put a band-aid over each cut.  The gargoyle had several band aids on each arm.

A little blood on her face drew Brenna's attention and she moved around the wings, careful to not disturb her.  In spite of where the wound was, it didn't sound like the female had trouble breathing anymore.  Brenna wiped at the blood with a wet towel and the gargoyle moved just a little.  "Ugh… what?"

Brenna's hand froze.  She was still unconscious.  That voice…  It couldn't be.  Brenna's eyes were wide as she stared down into the gargoyle's face.  Her hand snaked out to caress what she was seeing, just to prove to herself it was real.  "Dominique?"  Oh my god, Brenna's mind went back into panic mode.  How?  She moved to the side of the bed and grabbed the woman's purse, emptying it out on the bed and then ripping out the wallet.  She stared at the picture on the driver's license and then at the gargoyle on the floor.  Her eyes traveled back and forth three times as she struggled to accept it.  "Dominique?"  She tossed the license down and moved to kneel beside her… oh god, no wonder Brenna couldn't leave her room at night.  Gargoyles didn't turn to stone, they turned to human.  All those Quarrymen were wrong.

"Please be okay."  Brenna reached out to caress Dominique's hair.  Her shaking hands also moved to touch her wing briefly, but she pulled her hand back quickly when it twitched.  It was real

********

Demona felt a bit dizzy as she came to.  She opened her eyes slowly and grimaced at the brightness of her room.  At least she'd made it back.  She didn't really remember the last part of her flight.  She moved just a little and noticed the feel of sheets underneath her and the softness of her pillow.  That didn't make sense, the ceiling was too far away for her to be on her bed.

The sound of footsteps made her tense up as she heard them come closer.  Demona closed her eyelids so that it would look like she was still out, but she could see through her lashes.  Brenna came into her vision and Demona's fist clenched.  The girl had found her.  How clumsy and stupid had she been in order to draw the girl out of her room.  Brenna never disobeyed her so directly.  Her quick mind tried to come up with a way to deal with this.  Brenna had seen her.

"Please wake up."  Brenna sat beside her and Demona could feel the girls hand resting on her arm.  What was the sticky feeling?  Band aids?  "Oh God, please don't leave me."

The desperation in Brenna's voice was far too intense.  Demona slowly opened her eyes and tried to use that horrible accent that had fooled MacBeth in Paris.  It was the best she could do under these circumstances.  She'd never intended for Brenna to get a good look at her true form.  "What happened?"

Brenna seemed to sag in relief.  "Oh God Dominique I was so worried."  Demona's eyes widened in shock.  "Somebody shot you and I don't know first aid… I did what I could…"

It hurt but Demona used her arms to push herself into a sitting position.  That bullet had to have hit a few things for it to be taking this long to heal.  Brenna was staring at her.  She looked pale and scared.  In a movement far quicker than the girl would expect she reached out to grab her arm.  Brenna didn't flinch like it was her that she was afraid of.  "Are you okay?  You lost blood, and there could be an infection, cause I don't know what to do…"  tears started down Brenna's face.  "Dominique… please…"

"I'll be fine."  The fake accent wasn't going to work so she abandoned it.  The girl had figured it out.  Strong young arms wrapped around her and it actually helped her stay in a seated position, because she was still weak.

"oh god, don't ever scare me like that again."  Brenna scolded through tears.  Demona just sat there.  It felt surreal.  Brenna hadn't even mentioned that she was a gargoyle yet.  She glanced at her own skin to make sure.  She was in her true form.  

"I want to get off the floor."  Demona felt a bit sore from the hard floor.  She'd become spoiled since she acquired her day form, she wanted to lay on the bed.  Brenna didn't hesitate to touch her to help her stand or to support some of her weight as they limped towards the bed.  Demona began to wonder if this was a dream brought on from running head first through her window.  She moved her wing out and around Brenna so that the girl had to see it, she couldn't just ignore it, but Brenna said nothing.  She used her wing talons to caress the girls hair and still nothing.  It had to be a dream.  "I like you Brenna."  She spoke as she got help laying down so she didn't pull her chest wound open.  The dizziness was a bit worse after the movement and standing.  A dream shouldn't make her feel nauseous.  "And I don't even like humans."  The trip was too much, she passed out yet again.

The smell of food brought her to consciousness.  Demona opened her eyes and sat up.  The pain was gone.  Why was she smelling food?  The girl should still be in her room since it was still dark.  The bedroom door opened and Demona's wide eyes stared as Brenna brought in a tray of food, breakfast at what?  She glanced at the clock.  4 am.  What?  It was still dark and Brenna was standing there, just looking for a place to set the tray down.  "It wasn't a dream was it?"  Demona spoke flatly as she realized that Brenna had found her earlier that night.

"No."  Brenna finally just moved her book off the nightstand so that she could set breakfast down.  The girl sat down on the bed beside her.  "You look better.  Not so…"  girl nibbled on her lip like she did when she was nervous, "pale."  Demona didn't say anything she just stared at the girl.  Brenna was looking a little pale herself.  "I heard you hit the window.  I couldn't just not check.  You were hurt."

"Brenna."  Demona snapped at her and the girl flinched.  "Are you even looking at me?!"

Brenna gave her a slight smile.  "I noticed.  I thought the gargoyle was your lover, I didn't even think…"  Demona's eyeridge rose at the conclusion the girl had made.  Well, she hadn't really anticipated that one, but with what Brenna had known… it made sense.  Demona gave Brenna a small smirk.  Brenna's smile faded and a really serious expression came across her face.  "Dominique, I…"  Demona felt like Brenna's eyes were pleading with her.  "I was so scared."  Brenna's voice cracked.  "I thought you were gonna die."  The bed was shaking and Demona could see it was because Brenna was.  

Without giving herself time to think about it Demona pulled Brenna closer and the girl hugged her carefully, obviously afraid of hurting her.  She couldn't know that Demona had completely healed.  Demona moved her wings to hold the girl as well.  Brenna had lost so much lately, but obviously the thought of losing her had hurt her.  "I'm okay honey."  Demona whispered into Brenna's hair.

"I thought I was gonna be alone again.  That you…"  Demona just gently shushed her.  Brenna was truly amazing.  She'd found out that Demona was a gargoyle and was more concerned about her than the fact she wasn't human.  She'd bandaged every little wound she could have found, if the half a dozen band aids on Demona's arm were any indication.

They didn't talk about anything, just laid there on her bed.  Demona watched as the girl fell asleep right beside her after Demona ate the food Brenna made her.  The girl hadn't realized that food was exactly what she needed after healing a serious wound.  

Brenna slept right next to her and wasn't afraid at all.  She really wasn't like other humans at all.  "We'll have a lot to talk about tomorrow."  Demona whispered while caressing the girl's hair.  Brenna hadn't asked all the questions that she must be thinking, but once she knew Demona wasn't hurt she would.  It didn't bother her like it should.  Brenna knew her secret, had the power to destroy her human identity,  and in spite of all the experiences that Demona had with humans, she really didn't think Brenna would do that to her.  Demona was going to take a very stupid risk, all for a human child.  She sighed as she realized how messed up her life had become.  Brenna was the best problem to ever happen to her.

She carefully moved to turn off the alarm clock.  She'd wake up before her change and leave, but after the night Brenna had she deserved some sleep.  Neither of them were going anywhere tomorrow.

********

Brenna woke up to realize two things.  It was far too bright so she'd slept in and she was alone in Dominique's bed.  She got up quickly, worried that the woman was trying to do something that would hurt her.  Brenna checked the bathroom first and noticed it was back to the way it had been before she'd panicked and tore it apart.  Dominique really shouldn't be cleaning.

She looked upstairs and then went downstairs.  The redhead was in the kitchen reading the newspaper.  She was also human again.  "Are you okay?  Can you go to the hospital during the day?"

Dominique gave Brenna one of her softest smiles and pulled her button up shirt to the side.  Brenna's eyes widened when she didn't see a bandage or a hole where it should be.  "I heal incredibly fast."

"Wow."  Brenna moved to sit down beside her.  "You're a gargoyle." 

"Yes, and if that fact gets out I'm ruined.  You know that."  It sounded like a scolding.

Brenna stared into Dominique's eyes.  "I'd never do anything to hurt you."

"No, I don't suppose you would."  Dominique was staring at her so intensely Brenna blushed.  "I know you have questions, but I have one first."

"Okay?"  Brenna noticed the seriousness and matched it.

"Now that you know what I am, can you keep it a secret and would you still want to stay here or would you rather be with your own kind?"

Brenna blinked as she realized that it seemed she had a choice now.  "I want to be with you, and I won't ever tell anyone."

"I can't believe I'm doing this."  Dominique muttered under her breath.  "I'll call Rachel and see what I need to do to get permanent custody.  Would you like that?"  Brenna launched herself at the redhead and hugged her tightly.

"Yes." 


	5. Ripped Apart Part 1

**Ripped Apart**

Part 1

By Princess Alexandria

Princess_alex24@hotmail.com

********

Brenna sat back against the couch while watching the show.  It was almost strange being out in the living room at night.  She watched out of the corner of her eye as Dominqi… no, her night name was Demona, sat down in a chair to actually watch a show with her.  The woman never did that.

She'd known about Dominique's night form for a few days now, and a few other things.  Dominique wasn't going to ever die on her.  Brenna still remembered the relief she felt once she really believed what Dominique was telling her.  She wasn't going to lose her like she lost her mother, ever.  Dominique hadn't looked overly thrilled with her immortality when she told Brenna, but Brenna couldn't have been happier.  One thing that did upset Brenna a bit was that Dominique was truly alone.  The clan in the city had been hers, but there had been some sort of disagreement and they didn't get along.  Dominique hadn't wanted to go into details about that, so Brenna didn't push it.  Brenna also found out that the stone thing was real for other gargoyles, but magic made Dominique human during the day.  Magic was real.  Somehow that was something that Brenna had never even considered, but if Dominique said it was she'd believe her.

"What are you watching?"  Demona asked as the show started.

"Friends."  Brenna answered.  They watched in silence for a while and Brenna could tell that Demona wasn't really paying attention to the show.

Once commercials came on Brenna scooted across the floor to sit closer to Demona.  "Are you alright?"  She asked while looking up at the woman.  Demona wasn't acting like she normally did, she was a bit quiet and was watching a show that normally Brenna was pretty sure she'd hate. 

"You have to talk with Rachel tomorrow.  They apparently interview before awarding custody."  Demona reached out and took the remote from Brenna's hand to turn the TV off.  "She said that there is no way around it.  They will also be planning a home visit to make sure this is a suitable home.  I managed to arrange for everything to happen in the middle of the day."

Brenna felt nervous.  Something in Demona's attitude said there was trouble.  The gargoyle studied Brenna quietly, "I requested to adopt you, rather than deal with the foster care system and their requirements to keep custody.  We need to convince the social workers that you belong with me."

"You mean they could say no?"  Brenna felt terrified of that possibility. 

"Not as long as you are convincing."  Demona sounded strict.  "This has to sound like a normal home.  You have to be able to be believable.  My money and power will do the rest, but if you can't pull off the interview it won't be enough."

Brenna swallowed nervously and nodded.  She understood.  She had to keep the secrets without looking like she was hiding anything.  "I'll be okay."  

"Good, see that you are."  Demona stared at Brenna as if she was measuring her up.  "We'll go to her office after you get out of school.  Dress more professionally than you have been doing lately."  Demona moved to pet the very short hair coming in on the sides of Brenna's head.  Brenna hadn't shaved it yet.  "Maybe you could let it grow in?  Just until the judge finally hears the motion for adoption?  This process could take months, it would be enough time for your hair to grow out a bit."

"You want me to look a little more normal."  Brenna spoke quietly, a little hurt by that.

"I don't want their human prejudice to jeopardize this.  They might judge you just by looking at you, and think that I'm not suitable as a guardian."  Demona's voice got a bit softer, "They'll assume you are a problem child, and that I'm letting you be one.  If they can't get past appearances, and humans aren't too good about doing that, it could be a problem."

"It's gonna look pretty stupid for a while."  Brenna sighed as she realized that Demona was right.  Hopefully it grew fast enough.

********

Demona sat back to think while Brenna started watching the show again.  She wasn't happy about having to prove herself to humans.  She was willing to take the girl in, and with her money and power that shouldn't be an issue at all, but she had to apply for it and these humans were going to decide whether she was worthy of the child.

She watched Brenna absently caress the side of her own head.  She was probably thinking about how she was going to have to change.  Demona didn't like catering to the human concepts of proper appearance any more than Brenna did, but she wore the dress suits to work and kept her hair tied back.  Humans judged by appearance all the time, and Demona used that to her advantage to be more intimidating even in her weaker human form.  She'd seen people stare at the girl when they didn't think Brenna could see.  She'd seen old ladies hold tighter to their purses just because Brenna's hair was different.  She wasn't going to risk losing this girl if those in charge of approving her custody weren't able to see the gentle girl behind the hair.

********

"Bye."  Brenna said absently while leaping out of the limo.  It was going to be hard to concentrate today, Brenna could already tell.  All she could think about was the interview she had to go to after school, and how if she messed it up she'd mess up her whole life.  It just wasn't fair, she wanted to be with Dominique, she should just be able to tell them that and get to stay.  

Dominique actually wanted to adopt her.  Brenna felt a bit stunned about that still.  Did that mean she had to change her last name?  Brenna Destine?  Did that sound better than Brenna McCullen?  It just sounded strange.

"Allaine, wait up."  Brenna started to walk faster once she saw someone she knew was actually at school this early.  Dominique had to be at work earlier to prepare for a meeting and since the school was opened she thought Brenna could study in the library or something.  That was another thing, Brenna's grades were gonna be really important now and it wasn't as easy to get good grades at this school.  She'd have to keep up the work so that it didn't look like her grades dropped when she switched schools, just in case the judge didn't understand about how hard Cordova High really was.

Allaine stopped and turned to wait for her.  "What you doing here so early?"

"My ride needed to be early."  Brenna started to walk beside him.  "And you?"

Allaine sighed and looked a bit exasperated.  "Career week is coming up fast, so we have even more meetings.  We're trying to line up the specific speakers and we want a variety of careers represented."  He sounded like he was reading off a memo.  "Ya wanna come see what we do?  That way you know what to avoid next year."  He sounded teasing.  He never really complained that much about what his committee was, or not nearly as often as Gencie complained about her position.

"So you spend all year planning this Career Week?"  

"No, we plan all sorts of events, maybe two or three a semester, all career related."  Allaine held the door opened for her as they walked into the school.  "It's not all so crazy as this one.  It's just is the big yearly deal and more people, like parents get involved.  We have booths from employers all along the halls and we have a speaker each day."  Allaine grinned at her while he worked on his locker combo.  "I told you being a Cordova kid was prestigious, wait till you see the employers, you'll know.  I don't think other high schools have so many calling to request a booth.  We barely have to sell it."

Brenna sat in a chair off to the side while Allaine and several other people sat around a table as big as the NightStone meeting table.  There were several parents, obviously dressed for work.  That was why Allaine had to go to this early today.  The parents wanted to be involved, but couldn't get afternoons off as easily sometimes.  The committee's head teacher, Ms. Leonhart, smiled at Brenna before getting them all to work.

This was the first meeting Brenna had ever seen.  She'd heard a few voices through the boardroom door at work a few times, but she'd never actually been in one.  

"Well, right now it looks like the Monday Public Services day will work out.  We're getting enough calls about booths that it won't look deserted."  A girl with blonde hair was glancing at her notes as she reported on this.  It was apparently her responsibility to worry about the people on that day.  "I have the fire department signed up, and they plan to send their fire investigators.  I also have some medics and Captain Chavez from the 23rd Police Department told me she'd be able to send a few people.  She's going to get back to me on who."  The girl grinned as she glanced up from her notes.  "I set the Police Department as the ones to give us the speaker.  I just figured they'd be more interesting, so the Captain is gonna find someone she thinks she thinks can do a good job."

Reports like this continued, as a different student talked about the day they had responsibility for.  Tuesday was Technology, and apparently the boy in charge of that day had traded with someone so that his day would have two T's in it.  He claimed it was for marketing.  Wednesday was now Science, and Thursday was Medicine, but it included things like Psychologists too.  

And Friday was Allaine's day, Business.  Brenna started to pay a little more attention, because he was her friend.  "Well…"  He smiled at them.  "I have almost filled all the booths for my day already with companies like Cyberbiotics, and Xanatos Enterprises as well as some smaller businesses.  I'm currently working on trying to find a speaker."

"Wow, both Cyberbiotics and Xanatos Enterprises."  One of the parents in a business suit looked a bit impressed at that.  "Too bad you don't have NightStone, then you'd have all of the big three in the city."

Allaine looked a little deflated.  "I'm still trying with Nightstone, but the person I've been talking to isn't sure they can make it."

Before Brenna could even think about it she was talking, "Who are you talking to, because I'm sure Ms. Destine would send someone."  When all eyes traveled to her she realized that she wasn't a part of this meeting and should have probably waited until after to bring this up with Allaine.

Allaine sounded just a little confused.  "I'm talking to Mr. Wood in Human Resources."  Brenna tried to remember who that guy was.  She just didn't have that much to do with that office, she couldn't.

"You know Ms. Destine?"  The man who'd mentioned their inability to get NightStone sounded just a hint excited.

"I work at NightStone."  Brenna wasn't wanting to point out that Dominique was her guardian, they might expect her to be able to deliver, and she wasn't sure she could.  She just didn't think that Dominique would miss the chance to recruit at this school now that she knew what it was.

After the meeting, Allaine and Brenna left for class.  "Can you ask Ms. Destine for me?  Or do you think I should call her?"

Brenna thought about it for a moment.  She really wanted to be able to deliver for Allaine.  He'd look really good if he had all three.  "Give me the paperwork and I'll see what I can do.  It can be anyone that comes right?"  

"Oh yeah.  For businesses they usually send a recruiter or someone from Human Resources."

"You really think you'll be able to get David Xanatos as a speaker that day?"  

"I'm hoping."  Allaine spoke more quietly as other people from the meeting walked past them to leave for their jobs.  "It should be one of the bigger companies, and I talked with Mr. Renard  on the phone.  He… he was a bit boring.  He promised to send someone for the booth, but I didn't ask him to be a speaker when I had the chance.  I really want my day to be perfect and he'd put people to sleep with his talks about integrity in business.  I've seen David Xanatos on T.V. and he seems like he'd be a good speaker."

"Well, good luck."  Brenna then had to turn into her first class.  

********

Brenna looked positively terrified.  Demona watched the girl and Brenna didn't seem to be able to sit still either.  Perhaps impressing how important this interview was to them hadn't been the best way to deal with it.  "Gregory, pull over."  They were almost there and she couldn't arrive with Brenna looking this scared.  The social workers might think she'd been hurting the girl.  Demona put the divider up between the driver and them.

"You're going to be alright."  She spoke softly, soothingly.  Brenna needed to be calmer or mistakes would happen.  Demona had seen warriors go into battle looking like this, and those warriors often didn't make it back.  Fear clouded judgment.  She had to remind herself that Brenna was a child, because this terror in the face of a mere interview disappointed her.  "I've had you for over a month, you now go to Cordova High School, you look healthy and well fed.  You are smart, you work hard, and you are respectful.  You've never been in trouble with the law, don't do drugs, and don't act out.  You are exactly what thousands of families in this city wish they had, and you have your pick of homes.  You just need to let them know what your choice is."  She needed to empower the girl.  It would help Brenna through this.  It seemed to be working, Brenna was blushing and not looking as nervous.  Demona dropped her voice quieter and leaned closer, "You must be the best human child out there, and I want to keep you.  You can do this."

"I'm not a child."  Brenna finally spoke, and it sounded more like her normal voice, without the nervous shake.  Demona just grinned at her.  They were ready for battle.

She got out of the limo after Brenna and ignored the slight grin her driver was giving her as she marched with Brenna into the building.  If this didn't go well she'd have to come up with a backup plan, but she wasn't letting anyone take Brenna from her.  She glanced at the girl while they waited for the elevator.  For a human, Brenna really was exceptional.  The image of Brenna's fear of Demona dying on that night Brenna took care of her still stuck with Demona.  The door opened and they got inside.  "This will be easy."  She comforted once again.  Brenna was hers now, and if these humans didn't recognize her claim she'd make them pay.

If this were a hundred years ago she wouldn't have to go through this examination.  Her wealth and power alone would have guaranteed her any orphan she wanted.  If they decided that Brenna was better off in some impersonal group home or with some idiot foster family where she's exposed to horrible things…  Demona's hands clenched into a fist.  It wouldn't happen.

********

"Hello Brenna."  Rachel greeted Brenna with a fake smile that someone would give much younger kids.  Brenna just gave a fake smile back.  This wasn't going to be fun at all.  Ms. Destine was instructed to wait in the waiting room while Brenna talked to Rachel and some other guy alone in an office.  Brenna gave Dominique a glance as she went with them, wishing the woman could be with her.

"Well, Dominique Destine has decided to apply to adopt you.  How do you feel about that?"  Rachel asked once they were all seated.

Brenna glanced at the quiet man for a second before focusing her attention on Rachel, since she was doing the talking.  "I'd like that."  When there was more silence she realized that she was supposed to say more.  "We get along really well, I like her."

"How is she with you?"  The man spoke finally.  "I hear she has a bit of a temper."  Brenna grimaced a little.  Dominique must have yelled at Rachel at some point.

"Not with me.  She can be a bit loud at work, but never with me."  Brenna had to make them understand this.  "Even before she had me she never was like that with me, even if I messed up at work."  She didn't add that being late with the woman's lunch used to be considered messing up.  A blush started to cover her cheeks, but she decided to add it.  "Once a man was hitting on me, and she fired him.  She doesn't let anyone hurt me."

Rachel and the man exchanged glances at that and Brenna didn't like that she didn't know what they were after.  "So, I heard you go to a new school now.  Can you tell me about it?"

Brenna wondered why they'd ask things they knew the answers to.  "I'm at Cordova High now.  I got an invitation to it the end of my eighth grade, but Mom couldn't afford it.  Dominique is paying for me to go.  She said that I was too smart to be wasting away in those public schools.  She said that no matter what happens here she'd always make sure I could go to any school I wanted."

"You have friends?"

"yes."  Brenna answered quickly, glad that she finally did.  It seemed important to these people.  The rest of the interview went like that, and while it got boring at times Brenna didn't let herself relax.  It was too important to not take everything very seriously.

Once they were done with questions, Brenna stopped before leaving the room and turned to face them.  "She's like my family now.  Please don't mess this up."  Rachel gave her a comforting smile.  

"I'll show you to a place where you can watch T.V. in a moment, so that we can talk with her."  Brenna just nodded and went out of the room.  She could hear the two in the room talking but couldn't make out the words as she walked down the hall and back to Dominique.

********

Demona wanted to ask Brenna how it had gone and what was asked, but they were still in the waiting room.  It had taken too long.  When Rachel came out they walked past a room with a T.V. in it and a couple younger children.  Brenna was told to wait there while Rachel talked to Demona.

"Well, I want you to know that I won't hold our past conversations against the ruling."  Rachel started as soon as they were in the room alone.  "In spite of your rude behavior, it was always in your effort to make sure Brenna had the best possible care."  Demona barely managed to not try and put the woman in her place, but she just stood silently waiting for the other shoe to drop.  "I'm going to recommend she's placed with you, but I'm not the only person to make the decision.  I'll be honest with you.  The fact that you are single, and would be a single parent might become an issue.  Some people think that children need both a mother and a father."

"She never had a father before."  Demona couldn't help but snap.  "And she's been fine."

"I don't disagree with you."  Rachel quickly added.  "I'm just saying we can't guarantee anything yet.  Also if you have anyone that could testify about your character it could help."  Demona just stared at the woman blankly.  Actually it wouldn't help.  

Rachel's voice became a tad less formal.  "She loves you.  It's clear to anyone that's been around kids a lot, and I do a lot of placements.  It does count for something."  Demona tore her eyes away from Rachel at that moment.  

"You didn't know?"  The hint of surprise and tenderness in the woman's voice irritated Demona and she glared openly.  Rachel's lack of fear only irritated her further.  "Brenna loves you and I think that if you care about her as well, this might actually be one of my better placements."

Demona ground her teeth for a moment.  "I don't want to lose Brenna."  That was the closest she could come to saying it.  She shouldn't have to, it was obvious that she cared or she would have left the child alone in that apartment after Candace died.

"Okay.  Well there will be paperwork sent to your house every once in a while and you need to fill it all out quickly.  Brenna will be required to meet with a psychologist a few times, and there will be more than one home visit.  The court date will be set probably for some time in the summer, it's a bit backlogged."  Rachel was rattling things off quickly, as if she said this several times a day.  "If you have character witnesses, let me know about them and I'll interview them."  Demona didn't respond to the questioning stare, until Rachel just sighed and opened the door.  "I'll see you two later."

********

"I got David Xanatos!"  Allaine was almost yelling as he came over for lunch.  Lily gave him a puzzled glance but Brenna knew what he was talking about. 

"That's great!"  Brenna scooted over so that he could sit down and tell his story.

"Yeah, I finally was able to get in touch with his Personal Assistant and he called me back last night.  He says Mr. Xanatos will be here.  I got one of the big three to talk at Career Week."  He was laughing.  Brenna gave a small smile, feeling a strange feeling of pride to know that her… Dominique was one of those three.  Still she couldn't see Dominique talking at a high school.

********

Elisa felt tired enough to pass out as soon as she got home to her bed.  The problem being that she wasn't even on the way there yet.  Instead she was sitting in front of Captain Chavez's desk waiting for the woman to round up the other people she wanted to talk to.  Elisa didn't think there was a big case going on at the moment.

Officer Morgan came in along with two other people, one of which Elisa swore was from forensics.  Trailing after them was the captain and Elisa's partner.  "What is this about captain?"  Matt was asking before the meeting even started.

Captain Chavez gave them a mysterious smile and sat down in her chair while clasping her hands in front of her.  "You five have been drafted for a special mission."  The officers behind Elisa seemed to shuffle a little bit, and Elisa could understand why.  Special missions were for detectives and none of them were.  "There's a small high school that some of you might have heard about.  Cordova?"

"Isn't that the private school that only takes the students at the top of their classes?"  Matt miraculously had the answer.  Elisa figured that man must spend more time studying than anything else.

"Yes it is."  The captain's smile was a bit disconcerting.  "They have some of the brightest kids in the city attending there.  I'm sure you can imagine how much the department would like to encourage such bright young minds to consider a career in policework.  They'd be a real asset to the city."

"So what exactly is this mission Captain?"  Elisa finally asked, she had a feeling it wasn't the typical job.

The Captain's smile grew.  "They asked us to send people over for their Career week.  You all will be attending and I hope you represent our precinct well."  Elisa just blinked a few times as that registered.  "Oh, and Elisa…"  The captain smiled at her again and Elisa began to really regret pissing the woman off with that last unofficial case.  "You'll be speaking to the school about detective work.  They requested a detective for their main speaker."

"But Captain, isn't Matt more…"

"No, Matt's the head of the Gargoyles' Task Force.  If he became the main speaker it would turn into a talk about Gargoyles and we want the focus on good old fashioned detective work."  Maria smiled at her, "But don't worry, your partner will be there to back you up."  Maria glanced at everyone else, "You're all dismissed.  I'll get the details to you tomorrow, but this is going to be next Monday."

Once they were out of the room Matt fell in step beside Elisa, "Boy what did you do to piss her off?"  Elisa just glared at him for a moment and he gave her a boyish shrug in apology.  "Well, it isn't a big school… so the turnout shouldn't be too huge."  

"Thanks."  Elisa turned left to leave while he continued down the hall.  

********

"Can I see you transform?"  Brenna asked and Demona just stared at her in shock.  She'd been making sure the girl never saw that.  It was so painful she couldn't hide that fact from her and she knew Brenna wouldn't like to know it hurt.  Brenna was actually pretty protective herself, even though she wasn't a gargoyle.  She would often ask how Demona was if she felt something was wrong.  Brenna cared.  There was no need to frighten or worry the child.

"No, just get out your homework, and I'll be back in a little while."  She answered shortly and left to change her clothes and in a few more minutes, her form.  

When she came back Brenna had set out the paper she wanted Demona's opinion on.  Brenna was becoming a better writer.  This new school was worth the money.  Demona could see the girl easily outshining her other employees as soon as she was old enough to qualify for a higher position.  Whatever Brenna decided she wanted to do, she'd probably do very well, but Demona was starting to really hope the girl became interested in business.  

"This looks better than your first draft."  She set the paper down.  "I didn't see anything that really needed work."

"Good."  Brenna sighed.  "That means I'm done with homework for the weekend and it's only Friday."

"Well, what would you like to do this weekend then?"  Demona smiled at the girl.  It was one thing she liked about having Brenna in the house.  No more lonely weekends without much to do other than study spells.

"Umm…"  Brenna went quiet as she thought.  "Do you want to do Coney Island?  We could ride the… what?"  Brenna finished with a soft question and moved closer, resting a hand over Demona's.  Demona had absolutely no desire to ever go back to that place.  He'd betrayed her there.  He'd humiliated her in front of the clan and tried to kill her daughter.  No, she had no desire to wander through the place and see the rebuilt roller coaster.  "Or we could do something else."  One thing Demona could say was that Brenna had gotten very good at reading her emotions.  Demona wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Something else."  She spoke quietly, but the command was clear. 

Brenna was quiet for a while longer this time.  "We could go see a movie."  Demona could hear the question in the girls voice, trying to see if this option would upset her.  "Maybe we could see Titanic?"  Demona just sighed.  Well it could have been worse.  

"Yes, a movie and then we can see about your clothes.  You need more that are suitable for work."  The girl wore a total of five different outfits, because that was all she had that fit the dress code.  They could take care of that.  Brenna seemed to like that idea.

********

They left the theater in mid afternoon.  Brenna was trying to keep her disappointment off her face.  That was a lousy ending.  He died.  Brenna had gone into the movie knowing people would die, but… they'd just found each other.  It was so sad.

Gregory had the weekend off, so they got into Dominique's car.  "That was actually more true to life than I thought it would be."  Dominique started to talk as they waited to pull out of the parking lot.  "Humans trapped their own so that others could get away since there wasn't enough lifeboats."

Brenna was surprised the woman said anything out in public, but they were in the car.  It wasn't like anyone could overhear them.  "The rich have often thought they could just use those with less, or that their lives weren't worth as much."  Brenna started to agree a little, but then blushed as she realized Dominique might become insulted.  Working with Dominique made it clear that the woman wasn't above using others herself.

"It isn't just the rich and the poor Brenna."  Dominique didn't seem to notice the slip so Brenna relaxed.  After some obvious silent thinking on Dominique's part the redhead ended that conversation.  "So, the mall.  You need almost an entire new wardrobe."

Brenna nibbled on her lip, suddenly worried about what kind of clothes Dominique had in mind.  "I still need to go to school dressed like that."  She spoke a bit hesitantly.  Dress suits might be appropriate at NightStone, but it sure wouldn't be at school.  "And I don't wear skirts or dresses, ever, and I tried wearing high heels once and I swear I almost broke my ankle."  

"So you don't want some clothes that are perhaps a bit more… .feminine?"  Dominique asked.  Brenna glanced down at her jeans and her t-shirt.  She looked fine, she didn't need dresses to look like a girl.

"I have to move around a lot to file.  Dresses would slow me down."  Brenna tried a new tactic.  "I'd fall behind at work and men might stare at me."  Both things that Dominique wouldn't like.

********

Dominique had to hide her smirk at Brenna's tactics.  The girl was getting good.  Brenna was also nervous, but she didn't need to be.  Dominique had done her homework.  She'd watched what the girls at Brenna's school wore and she wasn't going to make the mistake of making the girl stand out.  Humans weren't accepting of difference, and teenagers apparently even more so.  Still there were outfits that would be more appropriate and would look better on Brenna than the girls normal outfit of dark colored slacks and a long sleeve button up cotton shirt.  

Dominique parked the car and decided to scare the girl a little bit before letting her know she didn't need to worry.  "I always get my dress suits from there."  She pointed to a store near the entrance to the mall.  "Let's see if there's anything there that works."  Demona could swear she saw the girl's eye twitch.  

********

"Well that's a different hairstyle for you."  Dominique noticed as soon as Brenna came downstairs.  Brenna just sighed.  She'd parted it down the middle and pulled her hair down over the peach fuzz on the side of her head because it really didn't look good right now.  Her black hair wasn't long enough to cover it entirely, but she had to make an effort.  Brenna suddenly empathized with those poor bald men that did those horrible comb overs.

She just took the plate offered and sat down.  Dominique always made breakfast, because she woke up earlier.  "My hair looks like crap."  Brenna felt like a paper hat that covered her head might be called for.

"No it doesn't."  Dominique was staring at her now.  Great.  "It's just different than you're used to, but it looks fine."

"Too bad magic can't make my hair grow faster."  Brenna muttered and then her eyes went wide as she quickly glanced up at an amused looking redhead.

"No, I don't know any hair growing spells."

"How about a spell to make me a little taller?"

Dominique smirked at her, "No."

Brenna grinned, "How about one that makes science actually sound interesting and Math fun?"  

Dominique laughed.  "Eat your breakfast.  We don't want to be late."

********

Demona watched Brenna leap out of the limo once they got to her school.  The place was decorated with some posters and Demona recognized Brenna's handwriting on some of them.  It was Career Week.

"I might be a little late to work."  Brenna looked a bit worried after admitting that.

"School needs to come first right now."  Demona answered her, and watched Brenna relax a little as she stood in front of the open limo door.  "But don't misunderstand.  Your job is still important.  You are just lucky that there is a lack of filing to be done right now."  She didn't bother mentioning that she'd been forcing Jane to do extra filing while Brenna was in school so that the girl could go to these Career Week things.  The girl needed to figure out what she wanted to be when she grew up, and the sooner Brenna figured it out the sooner Demona could use her money and power to help Brenna get there.  Brenna's counselor had said it wasn't too soon to think about college and to be doing extracurricular things that would help with her career goals.

"Okay."  Brenna stood a little straighter.  "Thank you."

"You call Gregory when you're ready to come to work."  Demona had decided that if at all possible she didn't want  Brenna to be taking cabs or wandering around alone in the city.  It was just too dangerous.  Her scare when Brenna had skipped school had forced her to think about that.  Brenna was no warrior, she hadn't spent much of her life learning to fight like gargoyle hatchlings did.  She was defenseless, without any talons or wings.  "You Will Call Him."  Demona glared at her.

"I.. ah, sure."  Brenna's eyes widened.

"Good, get to class."  Demona sat back after Brenna closed the door and took the stairs two at a time.

"She really is a good girl."  Gregory spoke quietly.  

"Yes, she is."  Demona almost took the opportunity to tell him that his job wasn't to keep reminding her of that, but she just watched Brenna slip into the school doors while Gregory pulled away.  Maybe she should arrange an internship at NightStone during the summer since the law wouldn't let Brenna work full time during her time off of school.  Learning more about what business was about, and what Dominique Destine did daily might help her decide on a career. 

********

Elisa stared at the building she'd driven by and walked past a million times.  "This is a school?"  She whispered to Matt as they got out of her car.  It was far too small.  They could fit five of these inside the school that Elisa had attended.

"They don't have many students.  It's invite only."  

"I still can't believe the Captain's making me be the public speaker."  Elisa muttered while locking her car door.  Matt just grinned at her as if amused.

"Molding bright young minds.  Consider this an adventure."  

Elisa almost commented on his gloating but Officer Morgan got there with the two other lucky draftees.  "Well, lets do this."  She didn't wait for him as she climbed the stairs.  One thing she was grateful for was the fact that this didn't start until two.  If it had been a morning one she wouldn't have gotten any sleep.  

Once they were inside it seemed distinctly more school like.  There were banners celebrating their Career week and several tables were set along the wide hallway.  

"Hello, I'm Kimberly Towel."  A young blonde girl walked up to them.  "I'm with the Career week committee.  Can I help you find where you need to be?"

They dropped off the forensic guy at a table next to someone from the fire department.  He wanted to set out his pictures and other things.  He was more than eager to be helpful.  Probably didn't get to leave his lab too often.

"We'll have the students mill about and checking out the tables after your talk."  Kimberly was playing a good hostess.  Elisa's heart skipped a beat as she noticed the number of seats in the cafeteria, where they'd set up a small stage with a podium.  This was one thing that she rarely had to deal with.  She was fine in front of groups telling them to get back for police business, but she didn't really enjoy public speaking.

"Don't worry.  You'll be alright partner."  Matt smiled at her with that damned teasing glint in his eyes.  He had to do speeches all the time with his position.

When the doors opened and students started to file in Elisa took a deep breath.  She could do this.  They were just kids.  Nothing to worry about here.

********

Brenna noticed Allaine talking with Ms. Leonhart in the corner of the room and moved out of line to head towards him.  Her hand reached into her bookbag and she pulled out the forms he'd sent her home with.  Brenna had been right, Ms. Destine was going to make sure someone was here on Friday.  

"Well, Detective Maza is ready.  We just need to get everyone seated."  Kimberly was walking up from another direction at the same time that Brenna got there.  When Allaine gave her a questioning glance she handed him the completed form.

"You got it."  His grin grew very wide.  "NightStone's coming?"

Brenna felt a little proud at that moment.  "Yep."

"Wow, from what I hear NightStone doesn't go to a lot of these things."  Allaine stared at the form Dominique had signed as if he'd just won something.  "My days gonna be the best."  He stepped away from Kimberly and Ms. Leonhart.  The girl was almost boastful about how things were going so smoothly.  "Kimberly's been acting like no one could do as well as she did.  She got more public services here than anyone in the schools history."  He folded the form up and put it in his pocket.  "But I got all three of the biggest businesses in the city.  Thanks."

"Can we get everyone seated please?"  Ms. Leonhart raised her voice to be heard over the students talking.  Brenna moved to find a place to sit near Lily.  Allaine and Gencie were working right now.  Brenna glanced around while Lily talked to a friend on the other side of her that Brenna didn't really know.  Allaine was leaving to probably help out any late arriving employers.  The speaker had them for a little while and then they were free to check out the employer booths.  Gencie was setting up her camera so that she could get some shots of the detective while she spoke, and Brenna could see the reporter assigned to this day sitting by the busily working Gencie.

"Hi, I'm Detective Elisa Maza with the 23rd Precinct."  A woman spoke.  Well, that was a surprise.  Somehow Brenna had assumed the Detective they'd send would be a man.  Detective Maza smiled at the crowd and started to speak.

********

Elisa noticed Matt give her a nod of encouragement and a smile.  After telling all the students about being a detective and the sort of work she did, she found herself the center of a lot of intelligent questions.  The doors to the cafeteria were opened and students could go out to check out the tables, but a group of them were hovering around Elisa wanting to know more.

"You know I'm not the only detective here."  Elisa grinned at her partner, who had been enjoying holding up the wall.  "Matt over there was also with the CIA, and I'm sure he'd love to answer questions."

After another ten minutes the crowd died down.  Elisa smiled at the way Matt seemed to talk so easily with the kids around him.

"You did really well Detective."  Officer Morgan spoke as he got closer.  "I wouldn't be surprised if we see a few of these kids applying for your job in a few years."  Elisa just smiled at him and took the cup of coffee he was offering.  Since she was watching him it wasn't hard to see the look of disbelief cross his face.  Elisa followed his gaze to see he was staring at the girl taking apart her camera stand while talking to another girl.  Elisa looked at him again.  No, it was the other girl that had his attention.

"I had no idea she went here."  Officer Morgan spoke quietly.  "That poor girl."

"What is it?"  Elisa didn't see Morgan get like this often.  He glanced at her for a moment before turning to watch the girl laugh at something.

"I had a call a couple months ago."  Morgan's jaw jutted out a little.  "I'd never had to tell a child her mother was dead before.  God, it was the worst thing I'd ever had to do for the job."

Elisa nodded in sympathy, grateful that her fan club had moved off right now to give them a little privacy.  "Who is she?"

"She's Brenna McCullen."  Elisa had expected he'd know.  She still remembered the name of the first person whose heart she had to break like that too.  Still, she'd been spared telling kids bad news like that.  "Girl had no other family.  She called her boss to come and get her."

"You let her go off with an employer?"  Elisa glanced at him.  If there weren't friends or family it was supposed to be social services.

"I thought she was a friend of the family.  It was later that I found that out."  He stared at Brenna for another moment.  "Should I go over there?"

"No."  Elisa shook her head, certain in this one thing.  "After something like that, you become nothing but the bearer of bad news.  I know you want to talk to her, but trust me.  Just leave it be, she won't thank you and it'll just open up her wounds.  Just stick to the table and try to stay out of her way.  It's the best thing you can do for her."

********

"It was so much better than I thought it would be."  Brenna smiled as she shared about her day during dinner.  "They had this detective and she told a few stories about cases she'd been on.  Police work is way more interesting than I would have thought it would be."  Brenna speared a piece of asparagus on her fork.  "And Detective Maza told everyone about this time that she was undercover and had to pretend to be a criminal.  Man, that would be so scary to be surrounded by people and knowing that if they found out you were a cop…"

"Do we need to talk about this now."  Dominique's angry clip startled Brenna.  She looked up and was surprised at the clear anger she saw on the redhead's face.

"No I guess not.  I'm sorry."  Brenna had no idea what she was apologizing for.  Dinner was relatively quiet after that.

********

Demona glared out the window as she sipped at her wine.  Maza.  Maza had managed to get close enough to Brenna to enchant the girl with ideas of policework and protecting.  It was bad enough that pathetic weak… Maza had Angela, she didn't need to take Brenna from her as well.  Brenna was not ever going into policework.  NEVER.  

When the phone rang Demona grabbed it quickly.  "What?!"  She demanded, thinking it must be Jane from work.  The woman was having to work late to keep up with the filing that Brenna couldn't do, but Brenna would never find out about that.  

"Um… is Brenna there?"  A young male's voice surprised Demona a little.  Brenna was already getting young male's calling her?  That didn't sit well with Demona.

"I'll get her."  Demona spoke with a controlled anger as she set her glass down on the counter.  "Who may I say is calling?"  Not that she needed to know that for Brenna's sake.  Demona really didn't like the idea of some young male thinking he could… no, Brenna was too young and humans were fertile all the time.  She'd seen specials on the news about teenage pregnancy.  A problem that gargoyles didn't have, and Brenna wasn't going to have it either.

"Allaine."

"Alright, just a moment."  She filled that name away in her mind.  It was unusual enough that she should be able to hunt him down if she ever needed to.

She found Brenna doing her homework at her desk.  "There is a young man on the phone for you."  The puzzled expression that got made Demona feel a little better.  "Allaine."

"I didn't think he had my number."  Brenna got up from her seat.  No, he would wait a little longer, Demona had some questions.

"Who is he?"

Brenna obviously wanted to just answer the phone, but she stood still.  "He's my friend from school."

"Just a friend?"

Brenna blushed.  "Yes, just a friend.  It isn't like that with him."

"Is there anyone it is like that with?"  Demona demanded coldly.  She took in one child, but she wasn't willing to raise another if Brenna did something foolish.  Humans were disgustingly fertile.

"No, there isn't."  Brenna's blush grew in intensity.  "Can I just answer the phone?"  Demona nodded and moved to leave.  The girl had a phone in her bedroom, but it wasn't used often.  She wasn't like the teenagers on T.V. that always had one attached to their ear.  In fact this was  the first phone call that Demona knew Brenna had gotten.

It was a weird feeling to have someone call her home to talk to someone else.  Demona walked back downstairs and moved towards the phone she'd left on the counter.

"Detective Maza was so good."  The boy was sounding upset with that.  "And now I don't even have David Xanatos.  He cancelled on me.  How can I beat Kimberly's detective?  I don't have a business speaker.  I have to go to school tomorrow and tell them that Mr. Xanatos had to cancel."

"It isn't like you could control that."  Brenna spoke softly, but it wasn't a lover's voice.  "No one will blame you."

"But what do I do about a speaker?  I can't call Halcyon Renard, I'd rather poke my eardrums out than have him come.  He's that boring."  The boy stammered.  "I… I need help.  I was thinking that maybe you could ask Ms. Destine?  I mean you live with her and everything.  Do you think she'd do it?"

"I.. I don't know."  Brenna sounded a bit surprised at the boy's request.  "I don't know if she's any good as a speaker either."  Demona frowned at that.

"She doesn't need to be as good as Detective Maza was today.  She just needs to be better than Renard."  Demona glared at the phone in her hand that she hadn't moved to hang up yet.  

"I don't like to ask her for things Allaine."  Brenna spoke very clearly.  

"Couldn't you just do it for me?  What's the worst that can happen?  She could say no."

"No, she could do more than that.  If I'm too much trouble why would she want to keep me?"  Demona pulled the phone up to her ear while being very quiet.  She had no idea that Brenna was feeling that insecure.

Not having to be better than Maza?  Those words rang in her head as she put the phone down.  They'd talked about the Detective and the respect in Brenna's voice grated on Demona's nerves.  

When she heard Brenna coming down the hall she moved further away from the phone, not wanting Brenna to realize she'd been eavesdropping.

"Dominique."  Brenna was going to ask, she could hear it in the girl's voice.  Demona sat down at the kitchen island and watched her young ward.  Was she really so insecure that she didn't think she could even ask for something like this?  "Allaine has a problem and he wanted me to ask you something, but you don't have to say yes.  I mean your busy and…"

"Just spit it out!"  Demona snapped at her.  Courage, the girl really needed to work on her courage lately.  She used to be much more courageous.

"David Xanatos was supposed to be the Friday speaker, but he cancelled.  Allaine needs another business speaker, and he was hoping…"

"I'll do it."  Demona stared into Brenna's shocked eyes.  She was going to show Brenna that detective work wasn't the only good career.  Maza… not have to be as good as Maza?  Demona was ten times better than Maza at anything.  She'd send half of that school out to get business degrees.  

"Really?"  The hint of happy surprise in Brenna's voice made Demona smile.  "Oh, I've got to call him back.  I told him you probably wouldn't."  That was another reason that Demona did.  Not good to be too predictable.

********

"Detective Maza."  Xanatos greeted her while she waited for the sun to set.

"Xanatos."  Elisa replied a bit flatly.  It was still hard to accept that he wasn't the enemy, even after everything that he did for the clan.

"I heard you were a speaker at Cordova High School a few days ago."  That was a strange conversation opener.  Elisa glanced at him again.  "I was going to be speaking there this Friday, but I had to cancel for a business meeting."

"And this is important why?  Don't play games today, I'm not in the mood."

"Well, it seems that they have managed to replace me."  Xanatos stared out with her at the slowly lowering sun.  "Demona decided to go in my place."

"Demona's speaking at a High School?"  Elisa had to ask, even though she was pretty sure she'd heard it right the first time.

"Yes, it appears that she is."

"Oh, she's got to be up to something."  Elisa didn't like it when Demona came into the scene.  It never went well.  "I need to find out what."

"Somehow I thought you'd say that."  Xanatos gave her a small smirk, the one that she often wanted to wipe of his face when she saw it.  "If we can be of any help let us know.  I still have to be out of town, but…"

"Thanks."  Elisa spoke quickly.  The sound of cracking stone filled the night air.  They needed to figure out what Demona was up to, because the idea that she was anywhere near so many kids made Elisa's skin crawl with the possibilities.


	6. Ripped Apart Part 2

**Ripped Apart**

Part 2

By Princess Alexandria

Princess_alex24@hotmail.com

Brenna felt a nervous anticipation as she got out of the limo on Friday.  She didn't know how she was going to be able to pay attention to class.  Dominique was coming to talk to the High School.  She'd cancelled important meetings and Brenna knew that Dominique had been working on what she was going to say ever since she agreed to do this.  She was taking it very seriously.

"Oh god, I hope it goes well."  Brenna felt like Dominique was really putting herself out there and didn't want the woman to feel hurt if the students weren't interested.  That was always a horrible feeling to be talking in front of the class and to realize that no one cared.

"Brenna, she's coming right?"  Allaine asked as soon as Brenna came in the door.  He was putting up the new Business day posters with Dominique's name.  That was the first hint that Brenna gave Allaine.  Ms. Destine may have been second choice, but it better not look like that once she got there.

"She cancelled her meetings.  She'll come."  Brenna gave him a weak smile.  She still wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing.  She left him to finish his before school preparations and went to her locker.

"You got Ms. Destine of Nightstone to come?"  A girl that Brenna knew she should know the name of asked while Brenna was hunting for her books for first class.

"Yeah."  

"That is so cool."  The girl from Brenna's History class smiled at her.  "She's like your guardian isn't she?  I hear she's like the second richest person in the city."

Brenna just stared at the girl for a moment, wondering how it was random people she didn't even have names for knew that much about her.  "She does alright."  Brenna didn't like to talk about the money.  "Well, I better get to the library.  I didn't finish some of my homework."  Brenna lied to get away.  Her homework was always done and double checked.  It was too important for her grades to stay high.  

Still she went to the library, not really having anywhere better to be for the half hour until her first class.  

********

Elisa sat on Fox's bed while the woman worked on her makeup.  "It'll just be you and me.  Matt had to go to a meeting about the changes in the Gargoyle Task Force."  Elisa had taken up Xanatos' offer of help, and asked for Fox to be one of the people sent to represent Xanatos Enterprises.  It gave them one more set of eyes, and while she'd never actually worked with Fox she was sure she could trust the woman to do her best. 

"Well, hardly an army but it will have to do."  Fox was almost ready and she was dressed to blend in with the business types that would be there.  Elisa had to change her own appearance a bit for this since every kid in the school had seen her recently and Demona would recognize her immediately.  She pulled out her blonde wig and went with a conservative dress suit.  She had no table, but if she wandered around people may assume she belonged.  

"Elisa?"  Elisa glanced up to see Fox was ready to go.

"Alright, let's do this."

********

Demona left work early and had Gregory drive her to the school.  She'd had to go over her false identities fake school records to make sure she didn't say anything that would contradict the human persona she'd created.  Still, this talk was going to focus on the job and not the preparation to get the job.  Not everyone could rob an immortal Scottish king to get the seed money for a business, although that would be amusing if they could.

She walked with a purpose to the school doors.  Brenna was standing in the hall next to a tall young man.  "Ms. Destine."  Brenna called out in greeting, keeping it formal.  Clever girl.  Demona didn't even have to tell Brenna to act like she was at work.  The boy next to Brenna drew Demona's attention.  "This is Allaine."  Brenna introduced him.  He was the one that called the house.  

"It's nice to meet you."  The boy started to talk, and it was an effort for Demona to not snap at him that she didn't want to stand around saying hellos.  

"Um, We'll show you where to go."  Brenna spoke up when Demona just stood silently glaring at the boy.  Demona knew that he wasn't Brenna's boyfriend now, but she didn't want him to become that in the near future either.  Brenna was too young.

"Oh, yes."  Allaine stammered and seemed to stand a little straighter.  Demona just dismissed him from her awareness as she fell into step beside Brenna.  The girl was looking a bit nervous, but she wasn't the one that was going to be speaking in front of a group.

********

Elisa moved back towards the wall and looked down so that hopefully Demona wouldn't see her face as she marched past.  The woman was walking beside the boy that had arranged for her to be there, and a young girl that stood straighter now that Demona was here.  It was the girl that Morgan had pointed out.  

"I expect this won't take too long."  Demona's voice carried back to Elisa.  "You can check out the other tables, but you won't find any business that compares to NightStone."  The girl nodded quietly and gave Demona a small smile.  It looked like they actually knew each other.

"Thank you for doing this."  The girl was now alone with Demona while the boy went off looking for the faculty advisor.  Elisa was familiar with the routine, having done it herself Monday.  Elisa held a brochure she'd pulled off the Cyberbiotic table because it was the largest brochure she'd found.  It helped her blend in, and made it less obvious that she was watching Demona.

"I'm doing this because it makes sense to start recruiting the young people at this school."  Demona was still talking to the girl.  

"Are you seeing this?"  Fox spoke over the communication device Elisa had in her ear.

"Yes."  Elisa answered quietly.  Demona had actually given the girl a small smile and reached out to touch her hair briefly.  It looked almost affectionate.  Elisa started to think she'd imagined it when Demona stood back and what had resembled affection faded in her expression.

"Well, it looks like the boy found his teacher.  I'll find you after this is all over."  Demona dismissed the girl… Elisa stared at the girls face, trying to remember her name.  Morgan had told her.  It wasn't coming to her.

Elisa carefully navigated the slowly growing crowded halls to stay nearby Demona, but out of sight.  She couldn't see any weapons, or even a briefcase to hold one or any magical artifacts.  It looked like Demona hadn't brought anything in with her at all.  "First Latin word and I'm going to move."  She muttered to herself.  It made no sense to target the kids of this school, but here Demona was.

********

Brenna felt awkward wandering the halls when she felt she should be by Dominique's side.  Ms. Leonhart was telling Dominique more about Career week and what the kids should get out of her presentation.  

"Hi."  A woman spoke and Brenna looked over to see a redhead watching her.  Brenna glanced around to see that there wasn't anyone standing behind her.  The halls weren't too busy yet, since only some of the classes had let there students go early.  Brenna took a step closer to the table while searching out the name of the business.  Xanatos Enterprises.  He at least sent some representatives.

"Hi."  Brenna gave the woman a small smile.  It was best to be polite.  These people came here to help out after all.  Brenna glanced at the Fox shaped tattoo over the woman's eye and immediately liked her better.  This was Fox Xanatos, and she had connections to the gargoyles.  She hadn't sold them out even when her baby was taken.

"What's your name?"

Brenna blinked at the cross between a friendly question and what sounded like an interview.  "I'm Brenna."  A boy stepped up to the Xanatos table and the redhead glanced at the man with her at the table.  He took over answering the boy's questions, while the redhead took a step away from her table to talk with Brenna.

"Were you thinking of a career in Business?"  The woman smiled, "Oh, I'm Fox by the way."  As if anyone looking at her wouldn't know.

"Is that why you have that tattoo?"  Brenna grinned at her.  

"Look whose talking."  Fox reached out to touch the short fuzz growing on the side of Brenna's head.  Brenna blushed at the woman's attention being on her hair.  Fox was a gorgeous ex-actress, and it just made Brenna feel ugly in comparison.  Her head looked ridiculous with sparse hair on the sides.  She just didn't have the rest of her hair long enough to cover it up.

"I'm growing it out."  Brenna spoke quietly.

"Parents didn't care for it?"  Fox leaned against the wall behind her and Brenna didn't even realize she flinched at that comment.  Her mother had not been thrilled when she got the hair done, but she said it was Brenna's body and she could do what she wanted as long as it wasn't permanent, like that tattoo of Fox's.  Dominique only mentioned the hair when it became an issue in the adoption process.

"That's not it."  Brenna glanced around, hoping it was almost time for Dominique's presentation.  Other employers were setting up tables and a few of them were watching Fox.  Well, she was pretty and the tattoo was unusual, but it didn't warrant the stares.  Sure she was a Xanatos, it was hard not to recognize a woman with a facial tattoo, but the whole gargoyle sympathizer label should have faded by now.  

Brenna would have loved to have talked with Fox about gargoyles, but ever since she found out about Demona she didn't like drawing that kind of attention to herself.  If she hated the anti gargoyle comments because it insulted Angela, she wouldn't be able to deal with listening to that crap now that she knew it hurt Dominique.  It was best not to bring it up at school, so she didn't find another person like Tina to piss her off.  She couldn't get into any trouble now, with the adoption proceeding going on.

"Well, what about business?  Is that what you're going to major in?"

"Ah…"  Brenna turned to look at Fox again.  "I don't know.  I'm still deciding."  When a few students started in to where Dominique would be giving her presentation Brenna started to feel anxious.  She wanted a good seat for that.

"Well, Xanatos Enterprises hires more than just Business majors."

Brenna watched Lily nod to her.  She'd save her a seat.  "I'd probably work for NightStone anyhow.  That's where I work now."

Fox stood up a little taller.  "Really?  Ms. Destine hired someone so… young?  What do you do?"  The undivided attention made Brenna feel a bit proud.  

"I'm a file clerk in her office, but I do some errands too."  Brenna smiled at Fox.  "She told me that if I decide to stay at NightStone I'd probably be the best manager she ever had."  Actually she said that Brenna would be far superior to the lame brain idiots she currently had working for her, but Brenna kept that to herself.

"It doesn't hurt that she believes in nepotism."  Gencie's amused voice was suddenly behind Brenna.  "Be honest with the lady.  You'll be running NightStone as soon as Ms. Destine is too old."

Brenna felt heat on her cheeks at Gencie's rude and embarrassing comment.  "She's not going to give me NightStone."  Fox was staring so hard Brenna took a few steps back.  "I have to go.  Can't miss the presentation."

Once they were out of earshot Brenna hissed at Gencie.  "Don't go telling everyone about Ms. Destine and me.  I don't want to jinx it."  Suddenly that girl knowing that Ms. Destine was Brenna's guardian in the morning made sense.  Gencie didn't need to be a reporter to spread the news.

"Oh get real.  Like anyone would say that a woman that rich wasn't a suitable parent."  Gencie rolled her eyes.

"I mean it."  Brenna glared at her friend.  "This is my life, not some story."  Dominique had wanted to keep this quiet until it was official.  She said something about not tempting fate.  Brenna had made the mistake of telling Allaine without realizing that Gencie was nearby.  

"Fine, fine whatever."  Gencie was starting to really piss Brenna off.  "I need to set up my camera so I can shoot her."

Lily waved towards them and Brenna just took a deep breath and went to sit down.  She may have got the job because she was Candace's daughter, but that wasn't why Ms. Destine had asked her to stay when she went back to school.  Brenna earned that job.  She glanced up at the woman waiting until everyone was seated.  Dominique had chosen to keep her working there because she was good.

********

Demona nodded to Brenna and was amused when that earned her a little smile.  Brenna always did that.  It was like a reflex.  

It was almost time and Demona could see that most of the school had attended.  Brenna had said she wasn't sure that everyone would show up since it was a Friday and the kids might want to sneak out early.  Well, obviously she was enough of a draw to keep the human kids here.  She also noticed quite a few of the teachers had wandered in.

Demona took a few steps to stand in front of the podium.  As she spoke she paid careful attention to how she was being received, and changed the focus of her talk if it looked like she was losing them.  The biggest draw in business was power and money, and she could see several students understood that.

The way Brenna was looking at her was a bit distracting at times, but Demona couldn't help but glance over at the girl every so often.  Brenna was practically beaming.  That was pride.  Demona took a sip of her water to give herself a moment to think.  That wasn't a look she got too often.  Angela had looked at her in many different ways, but there were only a few brief moments before Demona's plans were uncovered that it had been pride.

********

Dominique was fantastic!  She held everyone's attention better than any of the previous speakers had, even Detective Maza who had been the best this week so far.  She made what Nightstone did sound so much more interesting than the part of it Brenna saw.  Obviously there was so much more going on at work.

Brenna's mother had never told her about all of this.  Brenna wondered if she'd even known.  No, she had to have known, she was Dominique's right hand man in that office.  Thinking about her mother still hurt.  Not as bad as it used to, but it did.  Brenna looked up again and saw Dominique smirk at her, obviously pleased with the way things were going.  Brenna's mother had no idea Dominique could be like that.  That the woman would drop all her work to come here for Brenna.  Brenna's mother would have been shocked that her boss was willing to take Brenna in at all.  Of course there were a lot of things about Ms. Destine that would have shocked Brenna's mother.  A small smirk came to the girl's lips as she thought of that.  

"Man she's great."  Lily leaned over and whispered to Brenna.

"Yeah, she is."  Brenna smiled.  She'd been so worried that Dominique wouldn't be good and would be upset about it that she never even thought that the woman would blow them all away.  She was an energetic speaker that could teach a few of the teachers a thing or two about keeping peoples attention.

********

Elisa leaned on a wall in the back to watch.  "I saw you talking with the girl."  She spoke when she glanced over to see Fox standing next to her while watching Demona talk.

"She's better at that than I would have thought."  Fox muttered before turning to face Elisa.  The crowds were all standing or sitting much closer to Demona so they had privacy if they spoke quietly.  "There is more going on here than we thought.  The girl's name is Brenna and she works for Nightstone."

"Demona's her boss?"  Elisa turned to stare at Demona.  Morgan said that when the girl's mother died it was her boss that came to get her.  Demona glanced at the dark haired girl and smirked.  It was brief, if you weren't looking for something you might have missed it.

"Elisa what is it?"  Fox moved a little closer.  Elisa turned to glance at Fox, but she was still thinking.  Demona came to collect the girl after her mother died and was here at the girl's school.

"Brenna's mother died recently.  Morgan told me he had the call and was forced to tell her that."  Elisa turned to watch as Demona calmly started to answer questions from the students.  A lot of students had their hand up to ask questions.  

"Oh, that explains that look."  Fox sounded a bit concerned.  Why?  The question must have been on her face because Fox answered it.  "I said something about how her parents felt about her hair.  She looked like I'd slapped her."

"There's more.  Brenna's boss came to get her that day.  Demona came to pick the girl up."  

"And that one explains why Brenna's friend told me that Brenna was going to be the new CEO of NightStone when she got older."  Fox glanced over at the girl, but Elisa's eyes were riveted on Fox.  What exactly was going on?

"I hate to say this, but maybe Demona isn't up to something today."  Elisa watched as Brenna stood up once the questions were over and moved through the crowd towards the NightStone CEO.  This wasn't about the school and all these kids.  Whatever Demona's game was it focused on that girl.  Elisa needed to find out what was so special about Brenna that it warranted all of this effort from Demona.  Did Demona arrange for Brenna's mother's death to get access to the girl?

"Is she part Fey?"  Elisa asked distractedly.  She really was at a loss for what Brenna could offer Demona or what the big plot was.

"I'm not really the one to ask about that.  We'd need to introduce her to Alexander or Owen."  Fox tilted her head a little as a smile came to her lips.  "But I think I can arrange for one of them to meet her.  Don't you think it was terribly rude of David to cancel on them?"  Fox's grin was very mischievous as she turned to look at Elisa.  "I'm sure a tour of the nearby business for some select students would help to make him feel better about letting them down.  It's all good PR."

"And then we could try and get Brenna alone."

"Yes, cut her off from the herd."  Fox really sounded like the predator her namesake was at that moment.  

"Demona will know something is up if the girl is suddenly invited to the Eyrie."

"We'll ask the school to keep the location a secret until the last minute.  Say its for security reasons."

"You think they'll do that?"  Elisa couldn't help but remember the hassle of getting permission for field trips when she was a student. 

Elisa felt a little shiver at the look on Fox's face.  She'd seen it before, when they were on opposite sides of a jail visit.  "Oh, I think what David wants, David can get."  Fox then grinned at her.  "Well, I better get back to the table to keep up appearances."

Elisa nodded as she moved to keep a close eye on Demona.  Even if she didn't think the woman was about to try something she wasn't willing to risk being wrong. Somehow it wasn't at all comforting that Demona was after one child instead of the whole school.  Brenna had suffered enough lately and it was just sick that Demona was playing games with the girl.

********

Demona was grateful when the crowd of students took the hint and left to check out the tables.  They'd been swarming her.   A small smile came to Demona's lips as she allowed herself a moment of victory.  She'd clearly blown the Detective's wonderful presentation out of the water.  Brenna told her that she was by far the best speaker this week.

Brenna was out looking at the other company tables, and she'd been reluctant to go, but Demona had her eyes on someone she wanted to talk to.  She promised Brenna they'd go out to dinner after they were done here.  That had helped deal with the strangely disappointed look on the girls face.

"Ms. Destine, that was a terrific presentation."  The woman that had helped enroll Brenna in the school came forward to speak with her now that the other kids were gone.

"Thank you."  Demona then looked at the counselor with a serious expression.  "I've started the adoption proceeding with Brenna.  The social worker may be getting into contact with you."  While she didn't want anyone to know about this until it was a done deal, there was something that she needed to deal with here.  

"Well that's terrific."  The counselor smiled at her.  

"I'm concerned that the misunderstanding about the day Brenna left early to visit her mother's grave will cause problems."  Demona spoke a little slowly, hoping that the woman would get the hint.  Every human had a price, she just needed to find out what this one wanted.  "She was just too distraught to remember to give the office the note I gave her."  Demona started to paint a new story for that day, the one that she wanted the social worker to hear.  "I'd even given her money for the cab fare, so that I could take care of business and meet her there."

Ms. Pogge wasn't smiling now.  She was looking thoughtful.  "You really think that one incident is all it would take to stop the adoption?"

"It could be a problem, and it was all just a misunderstanding."  Demona watched the woman consider her words.  "I'm sure that the records in Brenna's file could be altered to reflect the real situation."  Brenna had been written up for leaving school grounds.  Demona wanted that paper out of there.  "She had permission to go, but the poor girl is still having such a hard time with dealing with her mother's death."  Demona watched the human counselor.  She was obviously fighting her desire to help because of the rules about those records.   This might take a little while. 

********

Brenna tried to walk past the Xanatos table and once again Fox was calling out to her.  "Hey, were taking names of people that visited our table and I forgot to get you on the list."  Fox smiled at her.  "I wouldn't want David to think I didn't represent us well."

"Oh… Okay."  Brenna moved forward and took the clipboard Fox handed her.  Once she'd signed it she gave it back.

"McCullen?  That sounds Scottish."

"Yeah."  Brenna noticed Lily leaving to go home.  That girl had no interest in majoring in Business.  She wanted to go into medicine like her father.  Gencie was still busy taking pictures of all the tables, and Allaine was visiting those tables making sure the employers had everything they needed.  It left Brenna on her own a bit, and normally at this point she'd go to work, but Dominique was still talking to her counselor.  Brenna noticed them walking into the main office together.

********

Elisa stood outside next to Goliath waiting for sunset.  After Demona had driven away with Brenna Elisa had started to do a little research.  Demona was up to something, something big, Elisa could just feel it.  But she had no idea what exactly it was.  She hated knowing that something was going on and being unable to prove it.  And she really hated having to let that poor girl ride off with Demona knowing that Brenna was in for a world of hurt whenever Demona finally revealed the true plan.

When the sun dipped below the horizon Elisa watched as Goliath and the clan stretched, their roars echoing in the castle.  Goliath had been very concerned about today, and wished that Demona would just stick to attacking at night, when he could help against her.

"Elisa!"  Goliath looked relieved to see her.  Elisa gave him a small smile in return.  "How did things go at the school?"  He asked as the other gargoyles started towards them.  Angela was looking a bit more somber than normal.  She'd taken the news that Demona may be going after kids hard, even though she didn't let it show.  Elisa could just tell, in fact all of them could.  They'd all avoided talking about Demona for a while, and instead focused on the fact that while the Quarrymen weren't as abundant as before, they were still out there.

"Well, Demona is up to something, but nothing happened at the school."  Elisa glanced at Angela for a moment.  "She was there with a girl, Brenna, that goes to that school."  Elisa took a deep breath.  This was the part the clan wouldn't believe.  "Brenna lost her mother in a car accident in February and Demona has had custody of her since then.  I checked with the state and it looks like she's applied to adopt the girl."

"What?"  Brooklyn stared at Elisa in disbelief and confusion.  "Demona's trying to adopt a human girl?"

"There has to be more that we aren't seeing."  Goliath looked as troubled as Elisa felt.  "What do we know about this Brenna?"

"Yeah, I mean… she's a teenage human girl right?"  Lex moved a little closer.  "What use could Demona have for her?"

"I don't want to think of what uses Demona would come up with."  Brooklyn muttered.  Elisa just managed to not agree with him.  The look on Angela's face made Elisa think that tact was the better way to go.  Angela looked like she was close to being sick.

"Well, I managed to ask a few questions from a friend of hers and it turns out that Brenna used to be a P.I.T. member."  Elisa turned a bit to face Angela.  "She had a run in with a gargoyle and it really impressed her.  Angela do you remember meeting a girl a few blocks from the library in October?  She told Gencie that you stopped a mugging and helped her pick up her books.  You two even talked about authors."

Angela had a surprised look on her face.  "Brenna?  I remember her."  Angela glanced around at the clan once.  "Remember, I told you guys that a girl I helped stayed to talk with me.  She didn't run away in fear."  Angela looked like she was trying to remember all the details.  "She said her mother was out on a date and she'd run out of things to do so she went to the library before it closed."  Elisa sighed as she heard the story.  She remembered it now, Angela had been so pleased that a human had treated her well and Elisa had pointed out that it proved that some people could learn to accept them.  That was the girl that Demona had.  Somehow that made it even worse, the girl could easily have been a friend of the clan, and who knows what Demona would try and do to her.

"Yeah, that's got to be her.  Her mother had worked for Nightstone, and when Brenna got suspended for fighting with a girl insulting gargoyles she ended up with a job at NightStone."  Elisa had found it very easy to get Gencie to talk, the girl loved having information that others needed.  It made this investigation easier.  

"Did her mother disappear mysteriously?"  Broadway asked.

"No, it was a car accident when she was out on a date."  Elisa would have thought that as well if she hadn't known about the car accident first.  It wouldn't have been the first Nightstone employee to suddenly go missing.  There was a night janitor shortly after Nightstone came to New York, but Elisa couldn't prove anything, and at that time it could have been either Demona or Thailog.

"I don't understand why Demona would be after her."  Angela spoke softly.  Whenever she said Demona it sounded a bit stilted and awkward.  "Brenna doesn't have anything that Demona could use."

"Well maybe Demona needs a human sacrifice for a spell."  Brooklyn muttered, gaining him a cold glare from Angela.

"She better not hurt that girl."  Angela's fists clenched and her eyes burned.  "Brenna was really a good kid."  Elisa was almost sorry to hear how easily Angela believed Demona would do that.  It had to be hard to realize your mother was capable of that kind of evil and it had taken Demona's attempt on Goliath's life to make Angela see it.

"It's a shame she lost her mother like that."  Broadway spoke quietly.  "Where is the rest of her family though?"

Elisa could see Broadway was upset for Brenna's loss.  He was always so empathetic.  "Brenna doesn't have any other family.  Her grandmother died last July."  Elisa had searched for other family, someone that could help her get Brenna away from Demona.  That was the only reason she had an answer to that question.

"So her father is dead too?"

"There is no father listed on the birth certificate."  Elisa could see the puzzled look on Broadway's face and decided to beat him to the question.  "Either her mother didn't know who he was or she didn't want to admit to who he was, but either way he wasn't a part of Brenna's life and I don't know who he was."

Before Broadway asked the question about how someone wouldn't know who the father was and put Elisa in an awkward position of educating the clan about some humans' indulgence in casual sex, Goliath interrupted.  "We have to get Brenna away from Demona."

"It doesn't work that way."  Elisa really hated the red tape at times, but she had to go by the law.  "Demona has legal custody of her now.  If I go in and take Brenna away _I'll_ be the kidnapper."

"But we have to do something!"  Goliath growled out.

"I'm working on it."  

"How is Demona able to live with a human teenager?"  Lex's forehead was scrunched up a bit with his thoughts.  "She'd have to give Brenna a really early bedtime."

********

Brenna glanced at the clock and smiled.  One good thing about living with a gargoyle was the fact that Demona had no concept of bedtimes because she was used to being up all night.  

"Brenna, I've been thinking about what to do about the summer."  Demona handed Brenna the bowl of popcorn.  They were getting ready to watch a movie.

"Yeah?"

"I talked with your counselor and you can get credit for internships.  I'd like for you to do one at NightStone.  It would give you something to do during the day because we don't have enough work for a full time file clerk and I don't want to leave you home alone."  Brenna grimaced at that.  She used to be left home alone all the time.  Demona's voice softened.  "We don't live close to anything you could do.  You can't just walk to the library from here."  Oh, well that was different.  It wasn't that Demona didn't trust her.

Brenna set the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table.  "What would I be doing?"  Brenna normally got really bored during the summer, and had been hoping to be able to work more hours so she could save up some money.  She didn't want to have to rely on Dominique for everything.  Or have to get all her purchases approved first.  

"I'll get you a list of potential departments and you can pick."  Demona reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn.  "I also agreed to take a few other interns from Cordova for the summer."

"Really?"  Brenna stared at the nonchalant attitude Demona had about that.  

"Yes, I'll be having a few interview for a couple positions."  Demona smiled at her, "You get first pick though, and there are some departments that I don't want them in… but you could be."  Demona's expression became stern, "But if you or any of those kids spend more time chatting than working, I will end the internship.  This is still a job."

********

Demona wasn't thrilled with the internship program that she'd had to create.  Ms. Pogge's price was surprisingly not personal.  She cleaned up Brenna's school records in exchange for one summer Nightstone paying internship program.  Demona would find offices far away from her so that she didn't have to deal with the children.  They would only take up to five of them, and only if they met the criteria and passed the interview

The movie started and Brenna sat back to watch.  Demona glanced at the girl.  The things she did for this child.  Demona shook her head, not quite believing her own actions at times.  Still, the way Brenna had looked at her today during the presentation and the way Brenna excitedly told her how well she thought Demona had done during dinner… it was nice.

Halfway through the late night movie Demona noticed Brenna looked a bit cold, but she wasn't moving to get a blanket.  That was something that Demona wasn't used to yet, making sure the thermostat was high enough for Brenna's sensitive human skin at night.  Gargoyles handled cold much better.

"Brenna."  Demona snapped at the girl when she noticed her getting so cold she was curling in on herself, but wasn't making any move to leave the couch.  "Get a blanket already!  I don't want to sit here and watch you shiver."

"Okay."  Brenna got up and moved up the stairs towards her bedroom quickly.  Demona just rolled her eyes and hit pause on the movie.  She then got up and stretched.  How Brenna talked her into a Star Trek movie she'd never know.  And one with time travel as well.  Demona grimaced.  Time travel never worked out how you wanted it to.  

Demona then wandered over to the thermostat to turn it up.  She could hear Brenna started down the hall.  When they sat back down on the couch Demona was a little surprised that the girl moved to cover Demona up with the large blanket as well.  Brenna's small smile made Demona decide to just sit back, rather than explain to the girl that the cold really didn't bother her.    

********

Brenna couldn't believe she was doing this.  Demona said it was safe, but still the idea scared her.  Well, this was definitely something that she couldn't tell her friends she did on a Saturday night.  

"Are you warm enough?"  Demona asked.  Brenna just nodded.  It was weird being held like she weighed nothing, like she really was a baby.  Demona just grinned at her.  "Alright, here we go."  Brenna's entire body tensed up when Demona leapt off the balcony and her heart was pounding in her chest.  Finally they were gliding up and when Brenna felt that she risked opening her eyes.

The ground was getting further and further away.  Brenna had asked a simple question, what was it like being able to fly, and that got her into this mess.  She wasn't sure Demona wasn't just trying to teach her to keep her stupid questions to herself.

"Relax."  Demona sounded a touch irritated.  "I won't drop you."

"I never thought you would."  Brenna spoke softly, but Demona was able to hear her over the wind.  It was then that Brenna felt Demona relaxing a little.

"I like being up here.  It's peaceful."  Demona spoke while Brenna stared down at the ground.  It was different seeing it from up high than seeing it in a movie like this.  The mansion wasn't very big from this high up.

"It's pretty."  Brenna felt the need to say something positive, since it seemed like Demona was actually doing this to be nice.  It wasn't a punishment, no matter how much if felt like it.  Brenna was really looking forward to being back on the ground again.

"The city isn't really that far by air."  Demona spoke as she stopped doing the wide circles around their home and Brenna realized they were going to be up there for a while.

"Aren't I too heavy to carry for long?"

"No, my true form is much stronger.  You don't weigh anything to me."  Demona's answer made Brenna's heart sink.  They could be in the air a while if that were true.

"Great."  She muttered, but when Demona glanced at her Brenna just smiled like she meant that in a good way.  Brenna was pretty sure there was a reason humans didn't have wings.  They didn't belong in the air like this.

When they got closer to the city the lights from the air made it look really beautiful.  And that ugly Eyrie building looked pretty nice at night as well, not that they got anywhere close to it.

********

Demona noticed Brenna starting to ease her death grip on Demona's neck as they glided over the city.  Demona didn't try any building dodging with the girl in her arms even if she thought it would be fun.  Brenna was just starting to trust her with this and Demona didn't want to ruin that.  She could feel the girl finally starting to relax.  Brenna had been scared, that was obvious once they'd started, but Brenna didn't back down.  Demona could admire that.

For some reason Demona hadn't even thought that gliding would scare Brenna.  It was just such a natural thing to do, like breathing the air.  

"This is nice."  Demona could hear Brenna mutter and it made her smile.  That was what she'd wanted to show the girl.  Most humans would never get to see the city like this, but Brenna should get the opportunity.  She deserved it far more than that blasted Detective that Goliath carted about.

They headed back home shortly after that.  Demona was satisfied that Brenna had fun.  

********

"Mother's day is right around the corner.  Make sure to say it with flowers."  Brenna read the sign on Lynati's Florists as they drove to school Monday morning.  Her fist clenched at that.  It was coming up this month.  

The sound of Dominique turning a page in a report that had been faxed to the house made Brenna glance up.  She'd bring it up later.  Brenna turned to look out the window again.  She should really get her mother some flowers.  They could take it to the cemetery.  God, she hated having to go there.

"Do you have enough lunch money?"  Dominique asked as they pulled onto the block that the school was on. 

"Yeah."  Brenna double checked that it was still in her pocket when she said that.  The limo stopped and Brenna got out.  When it pulled away Brenna found herself staring after it.  Should she get Dominique a mother's day gift too?  Would that be right?  The thought hurt.  Brenna turned to trudge inside.  Dominique wasn't her mother, and treating her like she was… how was that fair to Brenna's real mother?  But Dominique was going to adopt Brenna and she was taking care of her.  Brenna just didn't know.  She had two weeks to figure it out.

Allaine beamed at her when he found her in the halls.  "Did you hear… No of course you heard."  He moved closer to Brenna.  "Ms. Destine decided to create an internship program.  My committee is beyond thrilled.  You made me a star.  I should give you my first born."

"No thanks."  Brenna gave him a weak smile.  She wasn't feeling up to celebrating with him right now.

"Are you okay?"  Allaine lost his grin and looked at Brenna seriously.

"Yeah, I'm fine.  Just tired."  Brenna lied.

******** 

"Okay, what is this plan you told me about?"  Elisa stared at Fox, and was a bit put off by the woman's complete lack of concern.  

"It's simple.  We will call Cordova and tell them that David wants to make it up for canceling on them.  We will be willing to give the kids a short tour and do mock interviews.  We'll rope the people from Human Resources into doing the majority of them, but Brenna will get pulled out for an interview with Owen."  Fox glanced down at her now filed nails.  She'd been doing them while they talked.

"Its gonna be hard to get time off right now."  Elisa hated not being able to be available for whatever needed to be done, but if things went well they'd be keeping Brenna into the night so she could meet the clan.  Elisa wanted to be able to be there.  

"When is your next night off?"

"Thursday"  

Fox glanced up at Elisa.  "We could do this sooner.  It isn't like you need to be there."  Elisa just glared at Fox.  The redhead had the nerve to smirk at her.  "Anyone ever tell you that you're a bit of a control freak?"  That was hypocritical of a woman that used real people as chess pieces in games.  

"I want to be there."  Elisa said flatly.

"Fine."  Fox shoved her hair back over her shoulder.  "We'll wait.  I guess if Demona hasn't killed her yet she'll probably be safe a few more days."

******** 

"No."  Dominique's voice held a definite finality to it.  Brenna grimaced.  "These lyrics… have you even paid attention to what they're saying?"  The redhead took the CD out of Brenna's hand and placed it on the rack.  "It's disgusting.  Find better music.  If I hear you ever buy anything from this…"  Dominique glanced at the cover, "Worker72… I can't even call them a band… I'll dump it."

"What?"  Brenna just stared at Dominique in shock.  She liked their music, it had a great beat, perfect for dancing in her bedroom to.

"No."  Dominique just stared at Brenna, clearly expecting the conversation was over.  Dammit.  Brenna didn't have a chance in hell of changing her mind when Dominique got like this.

"Fine."

"What other music were you getting?"  When Dominique asked that, Brenna really regretted asking the woman to stop here on the way home.  Her CD's were getting tiring, and she just wanted some new ones.  She didn't expect Dominique to start objecting to language or questionable content.  

They left with three of the five CD's that Brenna had wanted, but Dominique had paid for those.  Still, Brenna was not in the best of moods when they left.

********

Demona grimaced.  They were halfway home and the girl was still pouting over those two CD's.  The language was harsh, and while one had several disgusting songs about sex, the other actually had a song about suicide.  Demona couldn't let the child have things like that.

"Oh, I got a permission slip I need signed."  Brenna finally spoke.  Demona wasn't going to apologize for looking out for her human.  It looked like Brenna was letting go of her anger.  Good, if it had gone on much longer Demona would have had to do something about it.

"What for?"

Brenna pulled the paper out of her bookbag and glanced at it.  "Doing mock interviews with a business."

"Oh, that sounds like a good idea."  Demona took the paper from Brenna's hand and pulled her briefcase onto her lap to pull out a pen.  "Take it seriously, we really do judge applicants quickly."

"Is that how I got the job?"  Something in Brenna's voice sounded like there was something wrong.  Demona handed the paper back to her and looked into her eyes.  Teenage humans were so incredibly moody it was like a constant battle to figure out their emotions.

"I liked your views."  Demona gave the girl a small grin.  "You were working on that paper when I first saw you."

"So it wasn't nepotism?"  Oh, so that was it.  Someone told the girl she didn't deserve her job.

"Did someone at work say that?"  Demona spoke slowly, her voice raising just a little.  If someone was rude enough to imply that to Brenna they wouldn't be working with her tomorrow.

"No."  Brenna spoke and Demona just stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate.  "Gencie just said something the other day and it made me wonder."

Demona almost regretted it wasn't someone at work.  She was better able to deal with punishing people there.  "I hired you in spite of the fact that your mother worked for me, not because of it.  It's never a good idea to hire relatives or lovers for the same office, because things can become unprofessional."  Demona reached out to caress the slowly growing hair on the side of Brenna's head.  It was soft and fuzzy.  "And I kept you working there because you do good work.  I know that you will do your best."  She kept out the part where she had really hired her to get on Angela's good side.  It was nepotism in a round about way, and it wasn't like she'd ever had the chance to tell Angela what she was doing with the girl, she'd lost her chance with her daughter shortly after hiring Brenna.

"Thanks."  Brenna gave Demona a pleased smile.

********

"Brenna McCullen "  The man with short blonde hair called out her name and Brenna stood up.  She was taking this seriously, because Dominique thought that she should.  She'd dressed in one of her better outfits and had created a resume.  Dominique had actually helped her revise it a few times as well, wording what she did at work to sound more important.  One glance at the other students showed her that a few of them weren't doing that.  It had been a bit of a surprise that they had come here to Xanatos Enterprises.  Brenna had expected a smaller company to be doing this.

"Hello, I'm Mr. Burnett, and I'll be conducting your interview."  The man stood rather rigidly, but after having worked with Ms. Destine for months it didn't intimidate her.  "Follow me."

When they got into the elevator, rather than slipping into one of the offices that Brenna had noticed other students going into she started to feel a bit nervous.  "Mrs. Xanatos said she was impressed with you."  He spoke as Brenna glanced at the button he'd pushed when he came in.  It was lit up.  They were almost going to the top of the building.

"Where are we going?"

"My office is on one of the top floors."  Mr. Burnett answered her calmly.

He sat at his desk glancing at Brenna's resume for an uncomfortable length of time.  "I see you left out an address."

"Security."  Brenna answered feeling a bit embarrassed about the need for it.  Dominique had explained that being as rich as she was made Brenna a target.  People might try to get to her through Brenna.

"You do realize in a real interview you shouldn't leave that out."

"Yes, but I already have a job."  Brenna gave him a weak smile.  "They know where I live."

"Yes, I noticed you are working for our competitor."  Mr. Burnett gave her a slight nod.  "How do you like it there?"

"It's good.  I have enough to do, have flexible hours, and lots of advancement potential."  Which was a fancy way of saying she was pretty close to the bottom of the food chain and there was only up from there.  Of course, with Dominique's giving her things like internships, she really did have the opportunity to grow into the jobs she might get.

"How is working with Ms. Destine?  I've heard she isn't the easiest person to work for."

********

Elisa sat in the surveillance room watching the interview.  "She's evading like crazy.  We already know she lives with Demona but she won't admit it."

"Well we are the competition."  Xanatos spoke from behind her and Elisa felt her back tense.  "Or perhaps Demona has the girl on a short leash."

Elisa nodded at that.  She could easily imagine Demona demanding silence from Brenna.  She continued to watch Owen conduct the interview.  

"Her last name is McCullen?"  Xanatos asked while watching the monitors.  He'd been away while they planned this whole operation.  Elisa just nodded as she listened to Brenna talking about her job.  The job wasn't what she really wanted to know about, but Owen couldn't ask the questions Elisa really had without putting Brenna on edge.  "Do you have a file on her?  Maybe I can find some leads that you can't."

Elisa shoved the file towards him without even looking.  She didn't like the way he said that, and knew some of his methods were less than legal, but this was a young girl's life they were talking about, and Elisa couldn't go to the cops and explain why this was a problem.  She had to keep Demona's secret.  

When she glanced over at him, Elisa could swear he looked a bit upset for just a moment, before he covered it up.  "Well, I'll make a few copies of this and see what I can discover."  He smiled at her and set the file aside.

After a few more minutes Owen slipped out leaving Brenna alone in his office.  Elisa watched as Brenna's curious eyes traveled over the room.

"She isn't Fey sir."  Owen said as soon as he entered the room.  "She's completely human."

"Well, there goes that theory."  Xanatos' casual dismissal of the only lead Elisa had irritated her.  He didn't seem at all surprised, and to be honest neither was Elisa, but then it left them with the same question.  What did Demona want with Brenna?

"I think Owen has gotten all he's going to from her."  Fox spoke softly while staring at the monitor.  "I'm going in.  She seemed more comfortable with me at the Career Day."

"How are things going downstairs with the other kids?"  Fox turned to ask Xanatos.

"Splendid.  We have about a ten of them still here and they are in their interviews."  Xanatos smiled at Fox and Elisa wasn't too comfortable with that.  When Fox said she wanted to cut Brenna off from the herd, she meant it.  They had made sure the girl was, while not the last one called in, near the last.

When Fox left Elisa glanced at her watch.  They still had a few hours before nightfall, and after reading the P.I.T. newsletter with Brenna's story about meeting Angela, Elisa knew that having Angela around when they talked about Demona would be helpful.  Brenna clearly looked up to the young female.

********

Brenna had been talking with Fox for a while.  The woman had come in to chat, and she was really friendly.  They even talked about gargoyles for a bit, but Fox didn't say anything more personal about them, or mention the rumor that they lived in the castle with her.  Brenna figured it was just talk anyhow, people found someone famous that stood up for gargoyles and picked on her.

"Oh,"  Brenna glanced out the window and noticed it was getting later.  A quick glance at her watch let her know that she was supposed to be at NightStone in ten minutes.  She was late.  "I've gotta go."

"It's only 4:30."  Fox said after casually glancing at the clock on Mr. Burnett's desk. He'd left them alone in here.

"I need to get to work before they close up for the day."  Brenna stood up.  She hadn't meant to be late, and she hated disappointing Dominique.

"Why?  You don't have enough time to do any work now.  I thought you must have the day off."

"My mom works there, we need to go home after work."  Brenna spoke distractedly while putting her jacket back on.  She didn't notice Fox raise her eyebrow at that.

"Why don't you call her and invite her over for dinner as well.  We could eat around 6:30."  Brenna blinked at the unexpected invitation.  Her mind quickly calculated the sunset time and realized that even if Dominique wanted to, they couldn't.

"Ah, no thanks."  Brenna smiled at the woman a little tensely.

"Are you sure, you didn't even ask your mom."  Brenna felt a little pale at that.  Did she call Dominique her mom?

"No, she isn't my mom.  She's my guardian."  Brenna felt an embarrassed flush come to her cheeks.  "I… my mom died this year and she's taking care of me."

"Who is she?  Maybe she'd like to visit.  We could even eat in the Castle." 

Brenna didn't like being on the spot like this.  Dominique knew people at NightStone knew about them, but she didn't want it public knowledge.  "Thanks for talking with me."  Brenna felt incredibly rude completely ignoring the question like that.  "But I need to go."

"Maybe you could come back Friday and have dinner?  I'm sure David would like to meet you."  This was starting to creep Brenna out a little.  Fox wanted her to stay too badly.

"Dom… My guardian isn't going to want me to.  She likes to get home before dark."  Brenna opened the office door and Fox walked with her to the elevator.

"Okay."  Fox pushed the button for the elevator for Brenna, and Brenna relaxed a little.  She was probably imagining it.  Fox wasn't being a pervert.  "If you ever decide to apply here, just let me know.  I'll make sure we have somewhere to put you."  Fox smiled as Brenna stepped into the elevator.  

"Thanks."  Brenna felt a blush come to her cheeks.  It wasn't long ago that bookstores and even fast food places were turning her down and now she was getting open invitations to work at Xanatos Enterprises.

********

Elisa marched out into the hall as soon as the elevator doors closed.  "What are you doing letting her get away?"

"You obviously weren't watching close enough or you would have seen I was starting to scare her."  Fox flipped her hair to punctuate her statement.  "If she thinks I'm a freak, she isn't going to trust me and right now I think she needs to trust someone."

Elisa took a deep breath.  Brenna was going back to Demona.  They needed to get the girl to meet the clan, to find out exactly how much she knew, and to get her to understand that being with Demona was bad for her health.

"She'll tell Demona where she was."  Elisa spoke slowly.  "And I don't think Demona will take that well."

"Keeping her against her will is still kidnapping, or did you not realize that detective."  

"I know that."  Elisa snapped at Fox, hating her smug attitude.  It's just this became a lot more complicated.  Demona would quickly realize they were on to her.

"She's planning to adopt her.  Whatever her plans are, they must be long term."  Fox spoke a bit more softly.  "It gives us time.  I'll put her under surveillance at school, and we can try to get to her again."

"You'll put her under surveillance?"  Elisa glared up at Fox.  This was her investigation.

"Well, unless you wanted to quit your job to follow that girl around, we'll have to use my people."

********

Demona glanced at the clock on the wall again.  Brenna wasn't here yet and it was almost five.  That girl knew she had to leave with enough time to get home before dark.

"I'm here."  Brenna panted out, obviously having been running.  "I'm sorry."

"Well, lets get going."  Demona grabbed her coat and left her office.  Brenna had made it at the last minute, as seemed to be that girl's talent.  "So how was the interview?"  She asked as they walked down the hall.

"You won't believe who was doing them."  Brenna started to speak a bit excitedly.


	7. Ripped Apart Part 3

**Ripped Apart **Part 3

By Princess Alexandria   Princess_alex24@hotmail.com

Brenna's eyes widened in shock as the echo of the impact still seemed to ring in the elevator.  When she'd told Dominique about what happened at the Eyrie building she hadn't expected the redhead to become so angry.  "I'm sorry."  Brenna whispered, once again unsure about why she was apologizing, but clearly she'd done something to upset Dominique.

"It isn't you."  Dominique was glaring at something that Brenna couldn't see, but she spoke quickly, if with a bit of a growl.  Since it wasn't Brenna Dominique was angry with Brenna moved a bit closer and slowly, cautiously picked up the hand Dominique had dented the elevator door with.  Dominique was hurt.  Brenna could see some bleeding and worried about broken bones.  Dominique had hit it really hard.

"You're hurt."  

Dominique finally glanced at her and the near madness in her eyes started to fade.  "I'll be fine."  The redhead grumbled.  Brenna just continued to stare.  She'd seen Dominique angry many times, but never like this.  It took a conscious effort for her to not step away. 

********

Dammit!  Demona clenched the hand that Brenna still held while ignoring the pain that caused.  Maza and Xanatos were interfering where they didn't belong.  Brenna was HERS!  They would try and take the girl away, and Demona couldn't allow that.  Why couldn't they just mind their own business?  This had nothing to do with them, nothing at all.  Every time Demona got something that made her at all happy someone took it away… but not this time.  No, not this time.  She held the girl's hand in her own and stared down into concerned and gentle eyes.  Not Brenna.  "You didn't do anything wrong."  Demona spoke more gently when she noticed the look of guilt on the girl's face.  

The elevator was almost to the parking garage.  Demona stepped back from Brenna and pulled her damaged hand into the sleeve of her jacket to conceal it from anyone that might still be around.  She'd broken it in her anger, and it was still healing from the abuse.  Her human form was upsettingly fragile at times.  She'd barely even dented the door.

They walked quietly to the limo, while Demona tried to think about how much she should tell Brenna about this mess and the clan.  She'd avoided going into detail about the clan before now, because it was one thing to know that the world would be better off without humans on it and another to tell the girl that she felt that way.  Brenna was far better than a human, but Demona wasn't sure how she'd respond to knowing what the fight with the clan was really about.

When Gregory opened the door for them, Demona watched as Brenna cleverly put herself between the man and Demona so that he couldn't see the hidden hand.  Brenna did it instinctively, moved to protect Demona without any thought.  That was what clan was about.  Demona moved to sit down, but she continued to stare at the girl who was looking more and more uncomfortable with it.  The girl may be human, but it was just an accident of birth.  Demona had forgiven her that and she would make sure to protect her child from Maza's good intentions.

********

"Brenna we need to talk."  Dominique finally spoke.  Brenna had put her book bag away and come downstairs to find Dominique just quietly sitting at the kitchen island.

"Okay."  Brenna moved to slide into the seat next to Dominique.  Maybe now she'd find out why the redhead got so mad when she heard about Brenna's interview.  Brenna had gone over what she'd told the woman several times in her mind and couldn't figure out what could possibly be wrong.

Brenna watched as Dominique sighed while staring at her again.  She'd been staring a lot today.  "I have a lot of enemies.  I didn't tell you before because I didn't want to burden you or worry you."  Dominique reached out and petted the soft fuzz on the side of Brenna's head.  Dominique rarely hugged her but she'd do this and somehow it was enough.  "I had hoped that you wouldn't come to any of my enemies attention, but it looks like they found you before I was ready for them to realize I had you."  Brenna's eyes widened.  This didn't sound good.  Fox hadn't seemed mean or dangerous.  She hadn't seemed evil.  Was it Fox Dominique was talking about?  Dominique turned Brenna in her seat so that she was staring into her eyes.  "Xanatos and Maza are behind that interview.  I know it.  I want you to be careful with what you tell them.  In fact I'd like you to avoid them whenever possible."

"Are they… I thought Elisa Maza was a cop.  She's a bad guy?"  Brenna just stared a bit dumbstruck.  Detective Maza had seemed nice too.  Brenna didn't like that she couldn't tell the good guys from the bad guys.

Dominique went quiet for a moment.  "She isn't a danger per say.  She just isn't going to want you with me.  Her and the clan will have problems with my having you."

"But it's not up to them."  Brenna felt a bit of fear clench at her heart.  "It's not up to them, right?"  Dominique looked too concerned for this to be nothing.  Brenna didn't miss that Dominique had mentioned the clan they never talked about as well.  

"They could be a problem, but we'll deal with it."  Dominique seemed to sit taller.  "I just want you to avoid talking to them, avoid them whenever you see them, and tell me if you ever see them.  I don't want them anywhere near you."

"Okay."  Brenna spoke softly while still trying to understand the threat.  Just talking to these people was dangerous?  "Does that mean Angela too?"  Angela was part of that clan, and while Brenna hadn't seen the female since that one night in October she still liked to think she'd see her again.

Brenna watched Dominique grit her teeth for a moment.  "Yes.  Angela can't be trusted…"  It seemed to hurt Dominique to even say that.  Brenna moved to rest her hand over the woman's and squeezed gently.  It had healed on the way home.  "She's been blinded by Goliath's ideals, and she…  If you see her just don't talk to her."  Brenna hated that and didn't want to ignore the female but she'd do whatever Dominique told her to.  It wasn't like she'd bump into the gargoyle anyhow.  Brenna was always at home at night.  "I know."  Dominique stared into Brenna's eyes.  "I know you like her.  I'm sorry it has to be like this… but I can't risk losing you.  Just don't talk to any of them."

"Why are they doing this?  What are they doing?"  Brenna didn't like not understanding.  They were obviously in some sort of danger, but Dominique was being so vague.

"Maza is a friend of the clan.  My clan."  Dominique's grip on Brenna's hand started to hurt, but the woman seemed to notice that and let go.  "The clan and that… human… decided that they were right and refused to listen to my views.  They judged me without even trying to see the truth I was speaking and they kicked me out."  Dominique was managing to growl out her words even though she was in human form.  "It is some of our… less civil disagreements… that are probably motivating them to try and interfere, but you are mine."  The possessiveness of that statement had Brenna's eyes widening a little as she stared at Dominique carefully.  "Mine, and I won't let their lies or blindness threaten that.  They think I'm evil, they think I'm a monster, and they will not be willing to allow me to have my own human child without a fight."

Brenna couldn't imagine anyone thinking Dominique was a monster.  "You're not evil."  She whispered to comfort the woman.  It shouldn't even need to be said.  Dominique had done so much for Brenna, cared for her.  Evil people didn't do that.  Why would anyone think she was evil?  Brenna wanted to ask, but decided that maybe that question could wait.  Dominique looked far from happy.  Brenna gave her a weak smile.  "And I'm not a child."

"Yes you are."  Dominique gave a small hint of a smile.  It looked forced and it faded quickly.  "Avoid them, and if you can't, don't believe everything they say."

"Okay."  Brenna nodded.  

"I'll take care of this."  Dominique moved to caress Brenna's hair again.  It was more touching in a short period of time than Dominique ever did unless Brenna was crying.  "You don't have to be afraid.  Just be alert.  Even though they are my enemies, they wouldn't actually hurt you physically, and I'd never allow that even if they were inclined to take out their anger at me on you.  Never."

********

Demona wanted to let the girl remain terrified of the clan and Maza, but she heard herself reassuring Brenna that they wouldn't be that dangerous.  Terror would make sure Brenna listened to her demands to stay away, but while Demona knew fear would be a good way to control her human, she didn't want it to be like that between them.  Brenna usually did what she was told; only breaking the rules in extreme situations.  The girl didn't need more nightmares.

Only half of Demona's attention was on the dinner conversation as she tried to figure out how to deal with the clan and Maza.  She didn't need them prying and telling Brenna things the girl wasn't ready to hear.  She also didn't want them interfering with the adoption proceedings.  They could do some real damage with really minimal effort at this tentative point in her and Brenna's relationship.  Demona hadn't had time to introduce some of her more aggressive ideas and beliefs to the girl.  It was something best done in small steps, and Brenna was likely to understand if it were done correctly.  Brenna wasn't blind to the humans' capacity for evil, even though she was one.  Demona watched the girl talking about something her friends said at lunch, but she wasn't really listening today.  It was a bit ironic that months of trying to explain to Angela had gotten nowhere, but Demona really believed that it wouldn't take long to get Brenna to understand.  Not really.  Angela was too much like her father, and somehow… Brenna was more like Demona.  Demona would be able to get through to this girl.  She just needed time.  Time that this problem with Maza might rob her of.

"Brenna, did you ever decide on what you'd use for a topic in your U.S. History class?"  Demona asked a bit innocently while watching the girl.  The momentary look of guilt answered the question.  Perfect.  Demona had to start moving a little faster if she wanted to ensure that Brenna would listen to her once the clan told the girl of her past.  "You could study the Japanese internment camps during World War 2.  That is within the time frame you had to choose from."  Demona held in her grin when the girl looked like she'd seriously consider that.  The Americans painted themselves as the heroes of that war, but they did their own atrocities, and Brenna would recognize that.  The girl already knew about what the Nazi's did, but to see the human's on the good guys side weren't all that perfect would be helpful.  Brenna tended to categorize the evil done by humans, it was the rich, or the Nazis, or other groups guilty of crimes she heard about, but once Brenna heard of enough crimes she'd come to the same conclusion that Demona had.  It was just the humans, nationality, race, none of that mattered.  The entire human race held that capacity for evil.  Once Brenna understood that, Demona wouldn't have to worry about this child turning her back on Demona because she'd tried to do something about it.

One thing Demona liked about Brenna is she needed little guidance to see the world as it really was.  She'd already started to recognize the truth before Demona had even met her.  Demona felt a pang of regret, wishing Angela had that quality, that understanding, that insight.  

********

Brenna sat in front of the T.V. pretending to watch the show, but the conversation earlier still bothered her.  Why would anyone think Dominique was evil, and what was she hiding?  Brenna could tell Dominique was purposely not telling her things.  If it were just the Detective and Fox that Brenna was supposed to avoid Brenna probably wouldn't wonder about it as much, but the clan including Angela?  Brenna knew for a fact that Angela wasn't a bad guy.  If Dominique told her that the Detective, or anyone else was the enemy Brenna would believe her, but not Angela.  It wasn't making sense.

She heard the gargoyle go upstairs and sighed.  Demona was going gliding even though it was raining.  If Demona hadn't been so tense today Brenna might have asked her to stay home, but she could understand the need to unwind.  Demona glided to calm down.

********

Demona's fist clenched as she raced towards the city.  She dodged buildings coming so close that she could feel the grit of the stone scrape her flesh at times, but she didn't slow down or pull away sooner.  She needed the risk of pain, physical pain, to push away her fears.  She was afraid… and it made her howl in rage.  How dare they put her in this position.  How dare they make her feel like this?

She had been lonely for so long, and now… "SHE'S MINE!"  Demona screamed into the air.  She had fought the clan and lost so many times, with plans, goals that turned to ash.  She couldn't afford to lose now, and she had no plan.  Her entire plan had been to not let anyone find out until it was legal, to keep it quiet until they couldn't ruin it.  She'd kept a low profile, didn't steal or do anything that would put her against the clan while she dealt with Brenna and the custody issues.  Her barely planned strategy was ruined when she went to talk at the High School.  It was clearly that presentation that brought her back into the clan's radar and threatened everything.  

Demona's eyes burned red as she recklessly whipped around the next building and then ran up along the Empire state building before turning sharply.  She needed to get lost in movement.  She'd be able to think more clearly once she got this out of her system.

The bullet passed by her ear, startling her.  Demona turned to see a shadowed figure on the rooftop nearby.  The same rooftop someone had shot at her from when she'd barely made it home for Brenna to find.  Demona quickly dove down and around a building.  A menacing grin and glowing eyes were framed by her wind swept hair as she moved quickly and kept low to get closer.  A battle, that was what she needed and this fool decided to give it to her.  Hopefully he lasted at least long enough to be worth the effort she was making to surprise him.

She soared up quickly and stared down at the man quickly turning his gun towards her.  The hunter mask actually startled her for a moment, but she didn't let that show.  "Hunter."  She growled at him.

"Demon."  His voice was cold and determined, but all hunters sounded like that.  Demona dodged his bullets while studying him and noticed the armor wasn't the same as before.  It was metal, like an exosuit.  This human might have a jet pack, but she couldn't get around to his back to see it just yet.

"I'd heard you gave up the hunt."  She dove behind the air vent and landed.  There would be one less hunter come morning, and that was always a good thing.

"Not for you."  He spoke coldly, but he wasn't moving from his spot.  That was suspicious.  Demona glanced down at the ground and noticed the small wires that were meant to trick her.  She dug her talons into the vent and kept her feet above the ground without letting him know she'd discovered the trick.  "I'm Jason Canmore, and I'm the last human you are going to see."  The sizzle from the damp ground made her smirk as she faked a sound of pain, the scream she knew well since she gave it twice a day, even if lately it was into a pillow through gritted teeth so she wouldn't frighten her child.

Electricity.  That voltage sounded like it would have incapacitated her if she'd really felt it.  "Demon…"  The human was starting to move, but he walked slowly, and sounded unsteady.  "I watched you kill my father, and Jon… Jon is dead now.  I know you had something to do with that."  Demona steadied herself and listened carefully for his progress.  She needed to hit him quickly once he realized she wasn't on the ground.  She could hear very unusually heavy footsteps come closer.  He wasn't used to that exosuit yet.  Just yet another thing not in his favor.  He had to need that exosuit to walk, because Demona knew he had been crippled rather recently.  

Her fist shot out and caught him solidly on the face plate of that suit, tossing him backwards.  Demona made sure her leap after him cleared the electricity trap as she slashed at anything that looked like they could be controls for that suit.  The third bulge in the suit proved to do it, and his legs collapsed tossing him to the ground harshly.  "No, it isn't I that will die tonight Hunter."  Demona's eyes burned as she kicked the gun away from him.  He was sloppy and hunters weren't usually this sloppy.  Maybe he wanted her to end his life.  She'd been forced into those types of mercy killings for hunters in the past.

He screamed as she grabbed the arm he was moving to aim her way.  She'd seen exosuits before and knew they could hold lasers in the arms.  She didn't give him a chance to use it as she squeezed and the metal groaned as it gave way to her strength.  "Your hunt ends tonight Canmore."  Demona growled while ripping her free hand down the back of his suit.  He tried to twist out of her grip but she wanted to kill something and he'd do nicely.  She ignored the pain of his other exosuit covered arm hitting her back.  "Ciao."  She told him mockingly while moving to the side of the building.  He wasn't able to fly, and he was about to regret that.

The sudden slamming of a body into her startled her and she lost the grip on the hunter, sending that man to the ground as she was painfully shoved into the gritty rooftop, to slide a few feet with the weight of her unseen attacker on top of her.  Her attacker leaned on Demona's injured back and Demona screamed in pain.  She swung around and caught the attacker on the face hard enough to toss him off of her so she could stand up.  Demona moved with the grace of a predator as she did, while keeping both the now seated hunter and… oh, Dammit.  Angela.  She'd hit Angela.  Her daughter had attacked her.

Demona shook the shock off and keep an eye on both of them, prepared to fight if she had to, but fleeing was probably the best option.  Regardless of Angela's misconceptions, Demona just didn't want to hurt her daughter.  "He's a Hunter, dressed for the hunt.  What do you think happened?"  Her voice held her irritation.  Angela was still standing battle ready, but the girl was nowhere near the warrior Demona was.  

Her back ached and she had to grit her teeth and endure the pain as she leapt off the building.  His exosuit enhanced his strength to the point that he'd actually hurt her while beating on her trying to get her to let go.  The upwind caught her wings, pulling them much tighter than was comfortable.  It was time to go home.  She could feel a few broken ribs, and wasn't in the mood to dodge buildings while that injured. 

Her daughter had actually defended a Hunter.  It made Demona feel ill that the girl would do such a thing, it was worse than protecting any other human, because the Hunters existed to solely kill gargoyles.

********

Brenna heard the loud thud upstairs and was on her feet instantly.  Demona never landed that heavily.  Something was wrong.  She took the stairs two at a time as she ran upstairs towards Dominique's bedroom.  Images of the blood from the last time she'd found the gargoyle on the floor in there crossed her mind, making her move faster.  "Dominique!"  Brenna called out while still down the hall.

"I'm fine."  Demona called back, but she didn't sound it.  Her voice was too tight and pained.  Brenna didn't even stop to knock, she just threw the door opened.

Demona was hunched over the dresser, obviously in pain.  Brenna reached over and turned on the overhead light, because the small lamp on that dresser wasn't showing her enough.  Demona flinched at the sudden light and Brenna flinched at what she saw.  A purple bruise on Demona's back, it was so large and dark.  "You're hurt."  Brenna took a few steps closer.  She hated feeling helpless when Demona came home like this.

"I'm already healing."  Demona gritted her teeth when she attempted to stand up straight.  Brenna moved quickly to be by her side.

"Bed."  Brenna ordered and moved to carefully help support the gargoyle as they walked in that direction.  Brenna didn't know what to think about the fact that Demona was letting her take charge like this.  "I don't know what to do."  She said after helping the gargoyle to gently sit down so she wouldn't jar her side.  Maybe Brenna should go into medicine, if Demona was going to keep coming home every few weeks looking like she lost a fight.

"I'll be fine in a little while."  Demona gave Brenna a slight smile while reaching out to caress her hair.  "If you really feel like you need to do something I could use something to eat.  Healing uses up energy, and I'll need food."

Cooking.  Good, Brenna could do that.  "What do you want?"  Brenna stood up, ready to run out and get to work as soon as she had the information.

"Something with protein.  It helps more."

"Okay."  Brenna nodded and moved to leave.  She stopped before leaving and turned back.  Her voice quiet, soft.  "I hate seeing you get hurt."

"I know."  Demona sighed.  Brenna gave Demona a questioning look, but the gargoyle just moved to lay back on the bed carefully to rest.  There was more wrong than just the physical damage.  Something was really bothering her, and she wasn't going to tell Brenna what it was.

********

Elisa marched into the castle quickly.  The clan had called her and told her about Jason's close call with Demona.  

"He was dressed for a hunt.  She might have actually been defending herself."  Angela's voice carried into the hall.  Elisa just shook her head.  She really didn't envy Angela the pain of having Demona for a mother.  "But she was going to kill him, I had to stop her."

"Where is he now?"  Elisa demanded as she stepped into the room.

"The hospital.  He had some cuts and I was worried his arm might be broken."  Elisa grimaced.  He was still in legal trouble for the attack on the police station, and it was only his injury that kept him from going to prison.  He'd just proven he was still a threat.  

"He was wearing an exosuit."  Angela stared at Elisa.  "I left it on him."  On purpose, that was the unspoken message.  Angela knew it would get him into trouble, but the girl still held a bit of a grudge.  At least it wasn't so bad that she'd left Demona to kill him.  Angela wasn't like that.  "That rooftop was a trap.  He was actively hunting again."

"I'm going to go check on him."  Elisa told the others before turning to leave.  The courts didn't think they'd need to monitor him too hard since he was wheelchair bound, but he'd at the very least get a monitoring bracelet and house arrest this time.  Those exosuits have weaponry, and he wasn't allowed to have that.  Elisa needed to find out why he did something so incredibly stupid.

********

Demona carefully rolled over and stared at the sleeping human in her bed.  Brenna had refused to leave her alone, in case she needed help going to the bathroom or something.  Brenna had cooked, cleaned up afterwards, and coddled Demona like she was an invalid.  Demona would have protested even harder than she had, if she hadn't noticed the helpless look in Brenna's eyes.  The girl knew that this injury wouldn't kill Demona, but the mere fact that Demona was in pain hurt and worried Brenna.

Demona was now glad she'd never let the girl see her transformations.  Brenna really was a sensitive girl.  Demona reached out, with only a mild twinge of discomfort to remind her that she'd been injured that night.  She caressed the hair that was actually growing relatively quickly on the side of Brenna's head.  The girl would need a haircut to make it blend, but she'd look relatively normal come the court date.  This human child would be her daughter.  Demona felt some satisfaction in knowing she wouldn't let anyone stop that.  This remarkable girl would be hers, regardless of what it took to make that happen.

********

"Gregory, I want to go shopping."  Brenna told him as she walked towards the limo.  He still parked it a block away so that it didn't look like she was showing off.  She was going to get her Mother's day gift for her mother taken care of now, she only had a week left until then.

"Yes Ms. McCullen."  Gregory smiled at her a little playfully while holding open the limo door.  "Where would you like to shop?"

"We could start at Lynati's Flowers."  Brenna's voice lost the brief command tone as she tried to think this out.  She would order some flowers to be ready for pick up next weekend.  All her mother's favorites.

********

Elisa noticed the man Fox had trailing after Brenna as she easily pulled out behind the limo.  She had a little time to kill and thought she could try to get a better handle on the girl.  The reports didn't tell her enough.

When the limo stopped in front of a flower shop, Elisa pulled over and decided that now was a good time to check out the selection.  Mother's day was right around the corner after all.  She walked past the man standing by the limo waiting for the girl's return and into the store.

"Can you make special orders?"  She could hear Brenna's voice asking the woman behind the counter.

"We do, but we need a few days leeway."  

"Oh, that's okay."  Elisa slipped behind an aisle and continued to listen.  "I need it for next weekend."

"Ah, for your mom?"  The woman smiled at Brenna and Elisa almost winced for the girl.  

"Yeah."  Brenna's voice was weak, a touch fragile.

"Well, let me grab an order form."  The woman started looking around in the counter, but after a moment it was clear she wasn't finding what she wanted.  "Oh, empty."  Elisa watched the woman hold up a tablet without any more order forms on it.  "Wait here honey.  I'll get another one out of the back room.  Feel free to look around, maybe you'll see something she'll like."

Elisa watched Brenna just stand there a bit awkwardly with her hands in her pockets.  The girl barely glanced around.

"Can I help you find anything?"  The shop owner's voice startled Elisa.  She glanced over at the woman.  Elisa wasn't really planning on shopping.  She was just following Brenna.

"Oh no, I'm fine."  Elisa then turned back to the aisle she was in front of and pretended to be checking out the bouquets there.  She could see the salesperson that was with Brenna returning.  "Actually."  Elisa glanced over at the woman next to her.  The girl was looking through her wallet trying to see how much money she had before they started ordering, and Elisa couldn't bear to think that Brenna was trying to afford a nice bouquet for her mother's grave.  Flowers were more expensive than Brenna probably realized.  "I need to talk to you."  Elisa gestured over to the girl.  She could already see the fact she had to prepay for her order had put a hamper in Brenna's plans.  The girl wasn't looking too happy.  "That girl is trying to buy a bouquet for her mother's grave.  I want to help her out with that, but she can't know."

"Oh."  The shop owner's eyes widened a little.  "I… let me take care of that."  Elisa watched the shop owner walk up to the salesperson and whisper in her ear.  She then took the order form from the woman's hand and smiled at Brenna.  "It's past Sonique's break time.  I hope you don't mind me taking over."

"No that's fine."  Brenna moved closer to the counter and Elisa moved to watch the woman lean down and cut part of the order form away out of Brenna's line of sight, probably the part with the prices.  She then stood up and placed it on the counter.  

"Well, let's see what you'd like."  Elisa watched as the shop owner explained what each flower was to Brenna and decided that she would definitely be shopping here for Mother's day as well.  Brenna picked out what she wanted a bit hesitantly, glancing obviously at her wallet.  She was worried it would be too much.  The only hint she ever gave that her mother was dead was once saying something in the past tense about the woman having loved lilies.

"How much would that be?"  Brenna looked up at the shopkeeper.  The bell on the shop door went off and Elisa pulled back out of sight as she saw Demona's driver enter the shop.

"Brenna."  He came closer to the girl.  "Is everything alright?  It's been a while."

"Yeah, everything's fine.  I'm just picking."  Brenna gave him a weak smile.  

"Alright.  I'll just be outside."  He nodded and stepped back outside.  Was he supposed to be Brenna's guard or bodyguard?

"Well, that will be…"  The shopkeeper glanced into Brenna's wallet for a moment when the girl's attention was on the driver leaving.  "Twenty dollars."

"Really?"  Brenna turned to look at the woman, clearly a bit disbelieving.

"Some of the flowers you chose were actually on sale."  Elisa watched the woman lie smoothly.  Not bad.  "And you ordered enough days in advance to get the discount price."

"How many flowers will this be?"  Brenna nibbled on her lip.  "I…"

"It should be near the size of that one."  The shop owner pointed to a rather large bouquet on display.  Elisa felt a small smile touch her lips at the pleased look on Brenna's face.  The girl deserved a break.  Her luck had been rather crappy this year.

Elisa waited until the girl left before walking up to the register.  "So how much?"  

The shopkeeper was still doing math.  "I'm giving you this at cost.  Just give me a minute to figure this out."

While the woman was still figuring out the bill Elisa glanced out the window at the leaving limo.  Brenna didn't seem as nervous and scared as Elisa imagined a kid living with Demona would be.

********

Brenna just needed to figure out what to get Dominique now.  She'd have to wait until payday next week before she shopped for her, but the woman did deserve a present.  Brenna had decided that her mother would understand.  Dominique was working so hard to keep Brenna and had done so much for her.  The woman was family and Brenna wanted to get her something.  It was just hard to figure out what to get her.  

********

"Well, we have been busy."  Fox said as she sat back in her chair.  "We know where she's living, and that she has a relatively set schedule.  Brenna gets to school early so that Demona isn't late for work, has a little time before she has to be at NightStone so occasionally she'll stop to shop or go to the library before going in, and they sometimes go out to dinner, but are always home before dark."  Fox was staring at her nails, checking out her manicure.  That irritated Elisa a bit.  "My people can't see the mansion from the street, but that's to be expected.  She's scheduled to see a social worker once every two weeks until the court date."

"I specifically asked my people to look for any signs of abuse, or any indication that Brenna was in any danger."  Fox stopped with studying her fingers and leaned forward staring at Elisa.  "They don't see anything.  Demona will yell and rant at her other employees, waitresses, salespeople, but she doesn't yell at Brenna."

"At least not in public."  Elisa grumbled as she pulled out the sheet with the girls address on it.  Nice neighborhood.  "With the social workers keeping tabs on a regular basis maybe she's keeping things relatively normal."

"There is one thing.  Brenna has mentioned to her friends that she sometimes stays up late watching movies with Demona."  Fox spoke a little more slowly and Elisa looked up into the eyes staring back at hers.  

"Either Brenna's lying or she knows Demona's a gargoyle."    

********

The weather was nice, no hint of rain, but it was early morning and it was still rather cool.  Demona made sure that Brenna took a coat with her.  Even though she didn't understand the need the girl felt to torture herself like this, she wasn't about to tell Brenna she couldn't do this.  The bouquet was in the back seat of Demona's car, while the girl sat quietly in the front seat staring out at the trees as they passed by.  It was still early in the day.  Brenna had insisted that she wanted to do this early, she'd always given her mother her gift early in the day.

The woman was dead and yet she still had this level of devotion from Brenna.  The girl was tired, and Demona had offered to let her sleep longer, but Brenna still got up.

Brenna looked pale, sad.  "I'm sure she'll like the flowers.  They are beautiful."  Demona spoke just to interrupt the silence and remind Brenna she wasn't alone.  She didn't really think the dead cared about things like flowers.

Demona had actually asked one of her employees about this need to visit the grave so often.  She'd worried that every month they'd be here.  It was a useless ritual that ate up time that her and Brenna could be doing other things.  Alice told her that eventually the girl wouldn't feel the need to visit so often, but that holidays tended to see more people in the graveyards.  Demona decided that she'd just continue to cater to this need of Brenna's until the girl no longer needed it.

She got out and walked around the car while Brenna was still slowly getting out.  Her reluctance was clear in her slow movements, whereas Demona just wanted to get this over with and get Brenna home.  She helped Brenna pull on the stubborn sleeve and made sure the collar was sitting right.

"Come with me."  Brenna spoke softly.  Demona blinked at that.  She'd planned to wait by the car until it looked like Brenna needed her, or until it was time to leave.  This seemed personal to the humans.  "Please."

"Okay."  Demona was then led up the hill by the hand.  They stopped a few feet from Candace's grave.  Her secretary.  Demona had never had to think of the death of any human as much as she'd been forced to think about the death of this one.  Hopefully that wouldn't last too much longer.

"I got you all your favorite flowers."  Brenna spoke to the lifeless stone.  The girl kneeled down and placed the bouquet in front of the headstone.  They'd only rot here, with no one to enjoy them.  "I'm doing okay."  Demona felt a bit awkward standing here quietly waiting for Brenna to finish talking to the dead.  "I love you."  There the tears started.  Demona clenched her fists.  These visits served no purpose but to cause the girl pain.  Brenna stood taller with an effort.  "I'm not alone.  Dominique is going to adopt me."  A watery smile crossed Brenna's face and Demona found herself staring at the girl.  She'd wanted Demona here for this.  "She cares… and no I don't think hell froze over."  Apparently Candace was among the employees that didn't think she was capable of caring for anyone.  She'd heard those discussions before at NightStone, but they'd never bothered her before.  Somehow today it did.  "I love you mommy, but…"  Brenna took a deep breath.  "she's my family now too."  Brenna glanced back at her and Demona felt that although the girl was addressing her mother, she was really talking to her.  "I'm gonna be a Destine."

"You don't have to change your name Brenna."  Demona took a step closer.  Names were important to humans.  They used them to define themselves and others.  "I wouldn't ask that of you."

"But I can have it if I want it?"  Brenna was staring at her with a real intensity.  The answer was important to her.

"Yes…"  Demona's voice dropped.  "It isn't a family name Brenna.  I made it up.  I'm not even French, I just lived there a long time."

"What are you?"  Brenna asked.  Nationality didn't really mean that much to her, but Demona smiled.

"I'm Scottish, like you."  Brenna was Scottish-American, but the girl smiled at that.  Brenna liked having things in common.

"You can have it if you want, but think about it."  Demona moved closer and caressed Brenna's hair.  "Human's put more value on names than gargoyles do."

Brenna looked a bit embarrassed that her grand gesture hadn't been jumped at.  "I love that you would be willing to take my name."  Demona spoke softly, and it wasn't a lie.  The girl was offering to be family, clan, in a formal way.  Demona remembered angrily telling Angela that humans had no place in a gargoyle clan, but looking at this girl who was willing to let go of part of her own identity for that, she wasn't willing to put Brenna in the same category.  Brenna belonged in a clan, Demona's clan.  

Once that was cleared up they stood in silence for a few moments, while Brenna just stared at the flowers she'd brought her mother.  Brenna wasn't ready to give up her mother's name, if Demona really thought that Brenna was she would have just accepted the offer.  Having her last name would strengthen her hold on the girl.  Maybe by August Brenna would truly be ready.  They didn't need to make these decisions until then.

********

Brenna followed Dominique to the car.  She'd been nervous and nearly sick before she mentioned her plan to change her name.  A large part of her was glad that she wasn't going to be forced to follow through on that.  

Brenna fingered the gift in her pocket, but she didn't want to give that to Dominique here.  It needed to be separate from what she'd done for her mother.

"Can we eat breakfast at a restaurant?"  Brenna asked while they were getting in the car.  Brenna had wanted to do her mother's gift first thing, before eating, like they always used to, but now she was hungry.  Still, as they drove away she stared out the window towards the hill.  She couldn't help but remember going out to eat with her mother last year, and the fun they'd had at the mall afterwards.

"Alright."  Dominique gave her a brief smile and pulled out of the cemetery.  Brenna would have to think of something other than shopping to do with Dominique today, but she wanted to do something.  Mother's Day shopping though, that was something that was just for her real mother.  

********

Demona watched as Brenna fidgeted nervously while they waited for their meal to be brought to them.  "What is it?"  She finally snapped, although with less venom than normal.  

Brenna blushed and nibbled on her lip.  It was something.  "Umm…"  Demona watched as the girl's hand once again slipped into her coat pocket, but this time she wasn't wearing it at the time.  "Nothing."  The hand slid back out, but not before Demona caught a glimpse of a… bow?

"Okay."  She spoke softly and made sure Brenna didn't see where her eyes had followed.  The girl wasn't good at subterfuge.  She had a gift.  Demona found that she was both stunned and pleased.  It was for her.  Brenna had gotten her a mother's day gift.  She'd give the girl time to work up whatever courage she felt she needed to so that she could present the gift.  

Breakfast went by relatively quietly.  Brenna was deep in thought and Demona was similarly afflicted.  She was pleased a human considered her mother material?  Part of her felt disgusted that she felt this bond with a human, while her own real daughter hated her.

"You know… I…"  Brenna started to stammer a bit and her suddenly speaking startled Demona a little.  She looked up at the flustered girl.  "I'm really glad you took me in."  The girl's eyes were glassy.  "I…"  Demona watched the girl's hands on the table clench as she looked down.  "I love you."  Brenna whispered it.  "In a family way."  Demona felt a smirk she tried to conceal as Brenna quickly qualified that comment while blushing.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the waitress returning and moved to wave her away while staring at the girl in front of her.  This was a serious moment that didn't need to be interrupted.  Lucky for that waitress she recognized that.  "Brenna…"  Demona stared at the suddenly vulnerable looking girl.  Dammit, she was going to have to say it.  Her voice dropped so that just the girl would be able to hear.  "I love you too.  I'll be very proud to have you as a daughter."  Her own eyes widened in concern when she noticed a tear fall from Brenna's eye shortly after that.  She really thought that was the right thing to say.

"I… I got you something."  The hand dipped into the pocket again.  "It isn't much."  Brenna looked into her eyes as she handed over a small present.  "I… would have liked to get you more."

"I'm sure it's just fine."  Demona wasn't really used to proper gift getting manners.  She hadn't gotten gifts like this often.  In fact since the time of her second clans death, it was just Thailog that had given her a gift, but it was all lies there.  This girl seemed incapable of lying about her feelings.  While Demona valued the ability to hide such things, she found herself relieved that this time the person in her life was such an open book.  There would be no suddenly unexpected betrayals from this one.

Brenna watched her so intently as she unwrapped the small box and opened it.  Seated in a bed of cotton was a black string necklace attached to a pendant.  Demona picked it up out of the box and brought it closer to her eyes.  It was a round pendant, with many symbols on it.  A triangle cut the circle in parts and a sun sat in the center of the piece.  

"It's supposed to grant safety on journeys."  Brenna spoke quietly.  An amulet that the humans sometimes claimed had real magic.  A protection amulet.  Demona blinked as she stared at it again.  It held no real power, but that the girl found this for her.  It couldn't have been easy to find.  Apparently she'd come home damaged one too many times, and Brenna was concerned about her.

"It's beautiful."  Demona smiled at Brenna and notice the girl seem to finally breath.  It was an attractive piece of jewelry if nothing else.  Demona picked it up by the necklace and slipped it over her head.  The amulet fell over her heart, and Demona felt it to make sure it was face out.

Her shirt would cover it while at work, but with something like this, Brenna probably wanted her to always wear it.  "I like it."  Demona smiled at the girl.  "Thank you."  Maybe she'd explain about real magic and new age pseudo magic to the girl some day, but not today.

 ********

Elisa leaned against the castle wall while waiting for sunset.  In her hand she had a large envelope of things she wanted to share with the clan.  This unofficial investigation was starting to frustrate her.  Still they had no lead as to what Demona wanted Brenna for.  One of the people on Brenna's tail was sounding like he believed those two made a cute family… Elisa's jaw had actually dropped when Fox's spy told her that.  Demona was a far better actress than she'd ever considered.  

Elisa glanced at the envelope in her hand.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but these pictures only told her that Brenna was really going to hurt when everything came out.  The girl was falling for all of it.  The adoration in her eyes when she looked at Demona sometimes was just painful to look at.  As if losing her own mother hadn't been enough pain for the child this year, she was going to find out that the woman she was obviously attached to wasn't who she thought… Damn Demona!  Elisa's jaw clenched.  That gargoyle had done many despicable things in her life, but this purposely abusing a child's love… she'd done it with her own daughter, and now Brenna.

The sun dipped below the horizon, so Elisa pushed herself off from leaning on the wall.  She had to give them the latest Demona report today.  She'd rather be telling them that Brenna was safely away from that gargoyle.  Goliath wasn't feeling as patient with this process, but they couldn't go around breaking laws that they didn't like.  

As sick as it sounded, Elisa had hoped to find some evidence of the abuse she'd thought Brenna was receiving, but there hadn't been any.  Without proof like that, she had nothing to give the social workers to protest Demona's custody request.  It looked like they wouldn't get proof like that.  Brenna didn't act like an abused child.  They were going to have to think of something else.  If Demona wasn't thinking it was important to hide her secrets from the girl it could mean that Demona didn't expect Brenna would live to be a threat.  They had to move soon.

********

Brenna had Gregory help her carry her books upstairs.  This paper for history was a large part of the grade and she'd wasted a week deciding on a topic, so she was going to spend the next week working hard to get it done.  This school was a lot more effort than her last.  A small smile crossed her lips.  She was finally not wasting her time at school, she liked that.

"So you went with the Internment camps?"  Dominique followed them upstairs and was glancing at the books that Gregory had put on Brenna's bed before moving to leave.

"Well, yeah."  Brenna had to admit it was interesting, and it was Dominique's suggestion.  There was no shortage of books about it.  Dominique gave her a strange smile that Brenna didn't quite understand.

"Good.  Well, I'll let you organize your books.  I need to change out of this suit."  Dominique's eyes widened a little in their shared secret.  Dominique hated wearing those things.

"Okay.  I'll be downstairs as soon as I have this put away."  Brenna said distractedly while clearing a space on her bookshelf for the latest library haul.  

"Oh don't rush.  Schoolwork is important." 

********

Brenna noticed the poster as she walked up the stairs to school.  Internship Opportunities at NightStone Unlimited.  They were finally advertising it.  Dominique had been waiting until Brenna had chosen her internship.  The list was impressive and intimidating.  Accounting, Human Resources, Security, Public Relations… the list went on.  Brenna's list had been even larger, including Research and Development, and one special internship with the CEO.  Brenna had felt a bit embarrassed that she didn't know much about the different offices, but after arguing with herself about seeming too clingy she finally admitted to Dominique that she wanted to see what Dominique did for her job.  It wasn't that she thought she'd ever run NightStone, but it really looked like the most interesting internship possibility on her list.  The redheaded CEO had seemed pleased with her decision.

"I'm going to apply."  Allaine's voice startled her as he walked up behind her.  "Do you think I have a shot?"

Brenna managed to not grimace.  For some reason Dominique didn't really like him.  "I don't know.  She doesn't play favorites."

They went inside and split up as she went down the hall to her own first class.  One awkward thing about her internship was that she was in charge of the others.  They reported to their own departments, and they'd report to her as well.  It was Dominique's idea to have Brenna have employees of her own to manage.

"School is almost over."  Gencie's sing-song happiness went with her bouncy walk.  "Two weeks… two weeks and counting…"  Her hands raised above her head as she did a little dance.

"Well did you get the job your family wanted you to have?"  Brenna watched as that deflated Gencie's joy a little.  

"I'm still looking.  I'll find something."  The girl grimaced, "Hopefully something good."  Brenna almost suggested applying for the internship, but held off.  If she suggested it Gencie might think she was going to automatically be in, and Brenna couldn't guarantee anything.  Gencie never did understand that Brenna didn't have a lot of influence when it came to work, and really that nepotism thing.  She didn't want Gencie saying that at work where the other employees could hear it.  Yeah, Gencie was her friend, but… no, she shouldn't work at NightStone.  It would just make Brenna's job harder.  

********

Demona glanced up from the kitchen table to see Brenna carefully editing her History paper.  The girl had already mentioned how she didn't realize that the US Government had done something like that.  Demona had barely grimaced as she heard yet another subgroup of humans that Brenna was going to lay the blame on, rather than making the connection.  It was still a step in the right direction though.  If Demona pushed too hard for Brenna to see it, the girl might pull away.  Demona glanced back down at the applications for the internships she'd brought home to look at, but wasn't really seeing them.  Another problem Demona had to keep in mind was that she didn't want Brenna thinking that she was in any way evil, like the other humans.  That had occurred to her after suggesting the topic for this paper.  Demona was going to have to be more careful than she'd originally thought.  Humans had done horrible things to themselves and to the gargoyle race, but Brenna was just sensitive enough to accept the guilt for that and she was the last person that deserved it.

"I've narrowed down the list of applicants."  Demona interrupted the girl's studying.  "Could you look at them and let me know if some are just…"  completely incompetent was left unsaid.  Most of them would be, but perhaps Brenna could prevent a truly huge waste of flesh from getting in.  It wouldn't look good to have to fire one of them the first week, but if they deserved it Demona would do it.  Technically as Brenna's employees the girl should take care of those, but then they might try to take it out on her in school.  

She handed over the applications when Brenna held her hand out.  "I don't know that many people yet."

"Well, if you run across someone that really shouldn't even get an interview you'll save me time."  Demona then got up to check on dinner.

After a few minutes of shuffling Brenna spoke a little hesitantly.  "Why isn't Allaine in this pile?"  Demona glanced at the girl, who'd been placing the applications in three different piles.  She had some system going on.

"I didn't care for his application."  Demona's voice held her authoritative clip.  That boy's being around NightStone would be a disruption.

She watched as Brenna glanced down at the applications for a moment while taking a deep breath.  She was actually going to push this, Demona could tell.  "I saw his application before he turned it in.  It was better than some of these."

Demona turned away from the stove and leaned against the counter with her arms crossed in front of her while she stared at Brenna.  "I don't want your boyfriend working there."  She studied Brenna's reaction to that and the surprise and then indignation fell away quickly to a determination and a bit of anger.

"He isn't my boyfriend and he's a lot more qualified than Jay Fries."  She was actually pretty mad.  Demona barely smirked at that.  The girl may have the fire needed to be the boss after all.  She still was keeping her voice calm, not necessarily challenging Demona's decision, but clearly unhappy with it.

"If you think he's better than Jay, go ahead and take Jay out and put Allaine in the running, but he still needs to interview."  Demona gave the girl a hollow victory for now.  What mattered to her more was that Brenna had showed more backbone with Demona than she had in a long time.  Brenna was starting to feel secure.  As long as that didn't get out of hand, that was a good thing.

********

Brenna wandered into the library to wait until her first class started.  Her paper was done and ready to turn in.  Now she just had to worry about regular assignments and finals.

"Brenna?"  A woman's voice behind her startled her.  Brenna turned around and her heart sank.  Detective Maza.  She didn't want to be rude, but Dominique was very clear that she shouldn't talk to this woman.  

Brenna just stared at the woman sitting down across from her at the table.  "I'm kinda busy."  Brenna grimaced at that knee jerk reaction.  She wasn't busy.  She pretended to start reading for class, even though she'd read it already.  

The Detective gave her a measuring glance. "You aren't supposed to talk to me are you?"  Brenna's shoulders tensed up at that.  She'd hoped to avoid that.  "Did you ever wonder why she'd tell you to not talk to a police officer?"  The stern tone made Brenna glance at her.

Brenna's voice was quiet and tense as she stood up and started to repack her books into her book bag.  "I'm not supposed to talk to you."

"And what will happen if she finds out you did?"  The Detective's voice softened.  The woman seemed to honestly believe Dominique would hurt her.  Brenna stared at her in disbelief.

"Just leave us alone."  Brenna tossed her bag behind her with one strap around her shoulder.  "I'm sure your nice…"  She felt a bit bad about being so rude, but this was important.  "But…"  She bit her lip.  Even this could qualify as talking to her.  "I have to go."

She sound of footsteps falling into line next to her own made Brenna feel a bit trapped.  She couldn't leave the school once she got there.  She'd get written up.  She couldn't make a scene.  She had to stay a perfect student now.  "She's not being honest with you."  Brenna jaw tensed as she started to walk faster.  There weren't a lot of students in the halls because it was a nice day outside.  "Do you really watch T.V. at night with her?"  The question was soft and Brenna's eyes widened as she turned to stare at the police detective next to her.  It took seconds to realize that Elisa Maza knew about Dominique being Demona, and now knew that Brenna knew.  Seconds to realize that was a mistake, because the Detective looked more tense, more determined to talk.  

"Just leave us alone."  Brenna pleaded while standing in front of the art room.  She could hear voices in there and right now she needed to be near the other students to try and drive this woman away.  "I'm happy… just leave us alone."  Brenna couldn't help but plead.  Dominique said that this woman would want to tear them apart.  She opened the door and went in quickly.  She could see the shadow of the Detective standing in the hall for another moment through the frosted glass on the door, before leaving.  

She didn't know any of the people sitting around talking, but she sat down quietly and stayed there until shortly before her first class.

********

"And how did stalking her go?"  Fox asked as soon as Elisa came into the room.

"Shut up."  Elisa glared at the superior look Fox was giving her.  Fox's spies probably told her about that mess as soon as it happened.  She just wanted to feel out the girl and maybe get a chance to warn her.  It proved to be a big mistake.  Dominique Destine called the school and Elisa was called by them and informed that she wasn't to drop by unannounced.  It was against their security rules.  She was banned from the High School.

"Demona's driver picked Brenna up at the front doors today.  He normally lets the girl walk a block so that the kids don't all see she comes from money."  Fox wasn't letting it go.

"Well, Brenna definitely knows Demona's a gargoyle."  Elisa announced to change the subject.  She wasn't enjoying working with Fox on this at the moment.  Sure the woman had resources and more time than Elisa did, but she rubbed in the mistakes.  Elisa was just hoping that word of this didn't get back to her captain.  "We need to get her to talk to us, but Demona told her to avoid us."

"I'm working on that."  Fox sat forward at her desk.  

"What are you doing?"  Elisa finally moved to sit across from her.

Fox just smirked at her.  "Brenna loves gargoyles.  Angela in particular."  Fox motioned between herself and Elisa, "We aren't going to get her to stand still long enough to talk…"  The smirk grew wicked, "but I'm betting she won't have such an easy time giving her hero the brush off."

"She's always at home at night."

"I'm working on that."  Fox pulled a file out of her desk drawer and tossed it out for Elisa to look at.  "Demona's faced many things before, but I'm betting she hasn't faced a begging teenager."

********

tbc…


	8. Ripped Apart Part 4

**Ripped Apart **Part 4

By Princess Alexandria   Princess_alex24@hotmail.com

********

Brenna felt a bit nervous as she packed her overnight bag.  This was the first time in a long time that she'd spend the night somewhere besides home.  She wasn't feeling comfortable leaving Dominique alone for a night.  It was usually night when the woman got hurt.

She zipped the bag up slowly and carried it in one hand, with her book bag in the other as she walked down the stairs.  She left both bags by the front door as she went to join Dominique for breakfast.  

It was the last day of school today and Gencie had managed to get tickets for a concert in Madison Square Gardens tonight.  She'd won six of them in some raffle she didn't even remember entering, and it was one of Brenna's favorite singers.  She'd had to let Dominique listen to the CD she had, and explain how Gencie's big brother was going to take them and watch out for them.  She explained how all her friends were going and that she'd never been to a concert before.  She'd talked Dominique into letting her go, and now she had second thoughts.

It was Dominique that told her if she went she couldn't get the Salter's to drive her home.  It would be night and they couldn't cover up that Brenna's guardian was a gargoyle.  So Brenna ended up with the invitation to stay the night with Gencie.

"Brenna, you're all packed?"  Dominique was sitting at the kitchen table.  

"Yeah… I…"  Brenna stammered a bit.  She almost said she didn't want to go, but she did.  She just felt like something would go wrong if she weren't here.  "I'm all ready."  

"Well, good.  Eat up we don't want to be late."  Dominique didn't seem at all concerned about this.  It helped Brenna relax a bit.  She was probably just nervous because she hadn't spent the night at anyone's place in years.

********

Demona watched Brenna's friends move to walk with her into the school, each talking excitedly about the plans for the night.  Demona wasn't exactly comfortable with letting Brenna go, but she couldn't keep the girl locked up at home every night.  She'd just reinforced the rules.  Brenna couldn't wander around the city once the concert was over, she had to go straight to Gencie's.  The chances of accidently bumping into the clan were slim, but staying inside would help decrease that.  

Brenna had done well when faced with Maza's visit.  She'd gotten away from the detective and then called Demona as soon as she was able to.  It was that reaction, and the obvious respect for Demona's rules even when Brenna didn't understand them that made Demona think giving her girl this chance to see this singer would be alright.  It would also free Demona up to take care of a little problem.  It might take a while to deal with Maza.  Demona didn't want to search for the detective while being distracted by the fact that her child was home alone and worrying.

********

"So your Gencie's friend Brenna?"  An older woman asked her.  Brenna just smiled, keeping her surprise at the fact Gencie's mother was so much older to herself.  

"Yeah."

"Mom, we have to get ready."  Gencie was practically bouncing on her feet.

"Well, it's nice to meet you."  Gencie's mom smiled and Gencie started to pull Brenna further down the hall and into her bedroom.  "Tim will be here in an hour."  Her mother called out to them before Gencie shut the door.

"Tim's my brother."  Gencie explained while flopping down on a rather feminine bed.  "So… this is my room."  Gencie smiled teasingly, "And you can sit on my bed if you want."

"Oh."  Brenna set her bags down next to Gencie's and moved to sit.  She felt a bit awkward, even though Gencie was her friend.  This bedroom wasn't what she'd expected, far too feminine with doll figurines, a white dresser, and canopy bed.

"We'll meet Allaine and Lily at the restaurant."  Gencie leaned up against her headboard.  "And Tim is bringing his friend Greg."

"Cool."  Brenna didn't really know how to respond to that.  She didn't know them, but they were older and were supposed to keep them out of trouble.  It was Gencie's mom's idea.

Gencie's grin grew wicked and Brenna started to worry.  "So… are you and Allaine… you know, together?"

"What?"  Brenna's eyebrows drew together as Gencie said that.  Why did everyone assume that?  "No."

"Why not?  Isn't he your type?"  Gencie's questions were making Brenna wish it were already time to go.  She hated these type of questions.

"He's just a friend."

"He likes you, you know."

That made Brenna fell like a lead weight had fallen on her chest.  She didn't like him like that.  She'd hoped that he understood that.  When she didn't say anything, Gencie rolled onto her side to stare up at her.  "So what is your type?"

"I don't have a type."  Brenna felt an embarrassed flush on her face.  Gencie hadn't gotten this personal before, and it seemed to come out of no where.

"Oh, you must like someone.  Even if it's just someone from T.V."  Gencie got a slightly dreamy look on her face.  "I like Dean Cain, from Lois and Clark.  He is so hot."

"Um, yeah.  He was kinda hot."  Brenna spoke a bit nervously.  He was attractive, but Brenna wasn't really that interested.  It started a monologue where Gencie talked about the virtues of his body and the way he smiled for at least a half hour.  Gencie then started to talk about other male actors that she wished she could be with.  Brenna just smiled and put in small comments once in a while when she thought she had something she could add.  The truth of the matter was there weren't a lot of people that Brenna considered sexy in the way that Gencie seemed to consider so many male actors sexy.  

********

Demona had changed into her night clothes early and was currently in the basement getting prepared for the evening.  Half of the large basement held her magic books and other magical item, while the half she was currently in held her weaponry.  She set out the gun she wanted for that evening.  Unfortunately it wasn't one designed to kill, but she couldn't kill the detective right now, or Goliath in his anger would ensure that Demona lost custody of Brenna.  She was going to try something else.

She hadn't spent a millennium studying magic for nothing.  An evil grin crossed her face as she set the gun down to go finish up the preparations for her spell.  It was ready.  It had taken her a while to find this spell in her books.  She'd originally deemed it useless when she first found it, but it had its uses.  It was complex, used up a lot of resources, and didn't give her that much control.  That was why this wasn't the one she'd tried to use on Goliath, opting instead for complete control of his mind at the time.  This time though, she needed Maza to seem like herself.  If no one suspected the detective was her puppet she'd have a lot more freedom to stop them from interfering.  That human had a lot of influence with the clan, influence that really should have been Demona's, but it would be Demona's now.

She'd tranquilize the human, cast her spell, and give her instructions tonight.  Maza would then help her keep the clan and Xanatos out of her business.  Maza would be very helpful.

********

Gencie must worship her brother.  Brenna watched the girl smile at him when he said something quietly into Gencie's ear.  Tim was a bit older, and in college.  Brenna was an only child, she didn't have this kind of relationship that Gencie had.  She remembered being little and asking for a little brother.  She'd wanted a brother because girls were so boring, and a brother would have been able to play with her.  She was disappointed that year when a little brother wasn't sitting under the Christmas tree for her to play with when she woke up.  Kids had funny ideas about things.  A small sad smile came to her as she remembered talking to her mother about that. 

"Pizza's here."  Allaine spoke to her and Brenna was embarrassed that she had to pull her eyes away from Gencie talking with her brother to see the waiter setting it down.  "You alright?  You seem sad."  Allaine's voice held a hint of boyfriend to it and it made Brenna want to cringe.  She'd never heard it before… never noticed.  With everything else going on in her life, this had escaped her.

"I'm fine."  She smiled at him, while taking a piece of the pizza.  It was still a little too hot to actually eat.  "This concert is going to be great."  

"Oh yeah."  He was quickly pulled into changing the topic.  

********

Elisa paid the cabbie and barely nodded to the security guard at the door as she marched past him to the elevator.  She hated to say it, but it looked like Fox's plan might actually work.  Brenna hadn't gone home tonight, she'd gone to her friend Gencie's.  Gencie lived in the city, which was much more convenient than trying to get to Brenna in what was bound to be a heavily guarded mansion.

The concert would get out at eleven, and it would be fully night by then.  

Elisa found Fox actually out waiting for Angela to wake up.  That was relatively unusual, but then all their plans for tonight centered around the female gargoyle.  

Shortly after sunset the clan all came towards Elisa and Fox.  "We could all go."  Brooklyn spoke.

"And scare her."  Lex added less than quietly.

"She's not afraid of gargoyles."

"But she's been told to avoid the clan."  Elisa interjected before this became a huge debate.  She knew that Brooklyn was eager to save Brenna.  He felt some sort of kinship to the girl because she was being tricked by Demona.  Still this had to be Angela's show.  "She already knows Angela, but if you all go to her it will just reinforce whatever lies Demona's been telling her."  She couldn't help but think about how her own eagerness to help had just managed to push Brenna away.  Demona had done a good job of getting Brenna too cautious for her or the clan to talk to.  Her voice got softer with her understanding of his frustrated desire to help.  "She met Angela before she met Demona.  This is really the best way to go."

Angela nodded.  The girl was looking like she was going out on a very important mission.  Her determination was clear to everyone.  Angela wouldn't let this opportunity slip away.  It wasn't easy to separate Brenna from Demona at night, and it could take a while to do it again if they didn't make this night count.  

Fox had spent a lot of money getting Brenna's favorite singer to change his mind and schedule one concert in New York.  She also made sure that Gencie, Brenna's best friend, got more than enough tickets so that Brenna would be invited.

"Angela."  Goliath spoke gently to his daughter.  "Bring the girl here so that we can all talk to her.  We can help her, she needs to know that."

"I will father."

Elisa tried to calm her unease.  This was too close to kidnapping in her mind, but nothing else had worked.  They needed to force Brenna to listen to them.  If they couldn't get through to the girl, Brenna might not live to be an adult.  But with Brenna's help they could stop the adoption proceedings and find the girl a safer home.  They might end up having to hide Brenna for a while if Demona felt like retaliating, but Xanatos had already said he'd do whatever he could to make sure the girl stayed safe.

"Angela."  Fox was staring at Angela.  "Don't push her too hard or too fast.  Brenna is cautious and she'll need to be gently convinced to come with you."  Fox then glanced around at the clan.  "And when she gets here, we can't just start telling her that her guardian is evil incarnate.  She'll stop listening to us at that point.  Demona's had months to gain her trust.  We aren't going to be able to get past that in five minutes."  Fox was mostly staring at Brooklyn.  Elisa moved to nod at him.  It was true.  Maybe if they'd found Brenna shortly after her mother died they could just warn her, but it had been three months the girl was living with Demona, and Brenna didn't want to leave her.  If her pleading at the school was any indication, this would have to be done carefully.  God Damn Demona.  They were going to have to break Brenna's heart tonight.

********

Demona found herself gliding over Madison Square Gardens before she even realized she'd shifted her course.  That was where Brenna was right now.  The concert must have just started.  She did a small sweep of the area and was glad to see so many cops on the streets.  Brenna should be safe leaving there.  She then continued her journey to see if she got lucky and Maza was at home.

She grimaced as she noticed the lack of lights in Maza's apartment, but she landed anyhow.  It was too much to hope she'd be here right away.  Demona could spend hours hunting for the woman's beat up car, but Maza would have to come back home at some point, even if it were early morning.  She could borrow clothes from her new minion after she'd completed the spell and still be home before Brenna got there.

The sound of something moving drew her aim, but she just saw Maza's gray cat jumping up onto the couch.  Demona watched it glance at her briefly before settling down for a nap.  "Just like Lacey.  You don't even notice me."  Brenna's cat for the most part stayed in the girl's room, but on the few occasions that Demona had crossed paths with it, Lacey walked around her like she were furniture.

"Well, lets see if Maza has anything interesting to look at."  Demona used the guns shoulder strap to sling it over her shoulder as she headed for the detective's bedroom.  It was a good place to start.

********

"Okay, the concert is over."  Lex's voice came over the head set that Elisa was wearing.  He was one of the gargoyles watching Madison Square Gardens.

"Good."  Elisa glanced over at Angela.  The girl was just standing on the castle wall staring out at the sky.  She walked over to her slowly.  "Are you alright?"  Angela just glanced at her briefly before returning to staring out over the city now.

"Brenna… it's just hard to believe Demona is doing this.  There's just something off about this."  Elisa sighed as she watched the female.  "We still don't even know what she wants with Brenna."

"It doesn't really matter what she wants with Brenna."  Elisa moved to rest a hand on Angela's arm.  "Whatever it is, can't be good for Brenna."

"That's it Elisa."  Angela turned to finally look at her.  "If she has some big plans, why go through the trouble of adopting her?  Why didn't she just kidnap her and keep Brenna locked up.  We would never have known if she'd done that."

"Maybe she's taunting us.  Maybe she wants us to find out, because she thinks she has that strong of a hold on Brenna."  Elisa spoke, but that actually sounded more like something that Xanatos would do.

"Or maybe…"  Angela sighed and went quiet for a moment.  "Well, I better get going if I want to get to Gencie's before they get home."

"Okay."  Elisa just watched Angela leap off the building and glide away.  This was not easy on Angela.  Elisa wished that they could have done this without making Angela a part of it.  The female obviously still held out some hope that Demona would change, in spite of what that hope had gotten her last time.

********

Brenna waved as Allaine, Lily and Tim's friend Greg got out of the subway.  Greg lived closer to Allaine and Lily and was going to make sure they got home.  Brenna hadn't even known those two lived within blocks of each other.  It was beginning to feel like she was the only student at Cordova that lived so far away.

"Thanks for inviting me squirt."  Tim smiled at Gencie.  Brenna just stared out the subway windows, feeling a little out of place.  "Oh Brenna.  Don't let her start talking or you won't get any sleep tonight."  Tim smiled at her and Brenna just nodded.  It wasn't like she went to bed early normally anyhow.

They were almost there when Brenna heard the sound of wings.  It wasn't something she'd mistake or miss.  She stopped walking and Gencie and her brother hadn't noticed right away since she'd been walking behind them.  The shadow that glided into the nearby alley looked like Demona.  Was something wrong?  Brenna grimaced as she had to make a quick decision.  If Demona were hurt enough to actually seek Brenna out then she wasn't going to want Gencie or Tim seeing her like that.  They were close to Gencie's house.  Dammit.  Brenna darted into the alley quietly and moved towards the sound of fluttering wings.

"Dominique?"  Brenna spoke quietly.  "Are you okay?"

"Brenna?!"  Gencie's nervous and loud voice made Brenna stop her trip into the alley.  "What are you doing?  Ms. Destine will kill me if I lose you."  It was only a half joke.

"I thought I saw a cat."  It was a lame excuse and Brenna's eyes trailed over the darkness again as she backed out of the alley.  "She looked hurt."

"Well, we don't go checking out dark alleys at night."  Tim interrupted them.  Brenna's fist clenched.  Dominique might need her, but she couldn't go to her right now.

"Okay, sorry.  You're right."  Brenna moved to follow them, but turned to face the darkness for a moment.  "I'll check later."  She told the shadows.  She needed to sneak out and make sure Dominique was alright.

********

Elisa sat on a rooftop nearby the girl's home with Goliath.  "She'll be back."  Angela's voice carried to them.  "She sounded worried and thought I was my mother."  Elisa watched Goliath's normal reaction to Angela calling Demona that.  His body tensed up for a moment.

"Okay, keep us informed."  Elisa answered.  They were just there as backup, in case something like Quarrymen or Demona decided to interfere.

"She calls her Dominique."  Angela spoke, obviously setting herself up for a wait.  It might take Brenna a while to escape her friend.

"Well, maybe she doesn't know her real name."  Elisa sat down on the buildings edge to chat.  It would be boring for everyone now, and while she was used to stake outs, the clan spent more time in motion.

"Hmmm, yeah could be."

********

Brenna felt bad when she told Gencie she was too tired to stay up and talk.  She felt like she'd let her down, but she needed to get out  of the apartment and check on Dominique.  After some firm declarations that she was fine and if Gencie wanted to go visit her brother she could, but Brenna was going to bed, Gencie finally left her alone.

Brenna opened the window as quietly as she could, and just knew that someone would notice her missing just seconds after she left.  It was just the way things went.  She used the fire escape to get down to the ground and moved quickly back to where she'd run into the gargoyle.

The alley was uncomfortably dark.  The lights had burned out or been broken.  Brenna walked slowly, while listening cautiously for any danger.  "Dominique, I'm here.  Are you okay?"  It had taken an hour.  An hour that her… family could have been hurting and alone.  Every second that she had to reassure or convince Gencie that she was alright, just tired was tense.

"It's not Dominique."  A feminine voice answered her.  Brenna turned around to find the shape of a female gargoyle stepping out of the shadows.  "It's Angela."

Brenna just stared for a moment as the gargoyle came closer.  It was Angela.  She hadn't seen her in months, but she was right here.  "Brenna are you alright?"  Angela sounded a bit concerned.

"Oh… Um…"  Brenna felt a blush cover her cheeks as Angela seemed to study her, making sure she wasn't hurt.  "You remember me?"  Brenna nibbled on her lip, a bit embarrassed at the shy tone of her voice.

"Of course I remember you."  Angela smiled at her.  "I don't get to talk about books with many girls.  In fact, I don't even know many females around here."

"Oh."  Brenna started to glance at Angela.  "I thought… are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine."  Angela took another step closer.  It was when she was standing right in front of Brenna that she remembered the rules.  She wasn't supposed to talk to Angela.  "I've been worried about you though."  Angela spoke softly.  It did sound like she really had been worrying.

"I'm fine."  Brenna was a little stunned that Angela had even been thinking about her.  The gargoyle must run into so many humans, and she remembered Brenna.

"I heard about your mother Brenna."  Brenna clenched her fist so that the sympathy in Angela's voice wouldn't make her tear up.  "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, well… shit happens."  Brenna looked away from Angela and stared at the alley walls while taking deep breaths.  She didn't want to cry like a baby just because Angela cared.  She didn't want to look like a kid.

"It shouldn't though."  Angela's touch was tentative as she wiped the tear Brenna hadn't been able to stop off of her cheek.  It reminded Brenna of Dominique.  "And I want you to know I'm sorry the world has treated you so badly lately."

"It's not all bad stuff."  Brenna took a deep breath, completely eager to talk with Angela.  "I'm going to a good school and Dominique is…"  oh, Brenna's eyes widened and a stricken look crossed her face.  "I'm not supposed to talk to you."  It hurt to even say it.  She should have remembered it before.  God, she finally got to see Angela again, and she wasn't supposed to talk to her.  

"So she told you to avoid me too?"  Angela sounded a bit bitter about that for a moment and there was a flash of angry red in her eyes before her features calmed.  "I'm just checking on you.  I just want to make sure you're safe."

Brenna hated the rules, hated Dominique for just a brief moment as she realized that she had to leave.  Dominique wouldn't have told her to avoid Angela for no reason, she told herself that.  "I need to get back before Gencie realizes I snuck out."  Brenna took a step to walk around Angela, while wondering if she'd ever see her again.

"She's my mother.  Did you know that?"  Angela spoke in flat tone and Brenna froze, to turn and stare at Angela.  "Her real name is Demona."

"I know about that name."  Brenna just stared at Angela in disbelief.  Dominique had never said who her daughter was.  In all the time that Brenna had talked about meeting Angela, she'd never said.  "She's great."  Brenna gave Angela a small smile, and was a bit confused when Angela didn't return it.  "I didn't know…"  But now that she thought about it she should have.  Talking about Angela always made Demona look pained.

"So she didn't talk about me?"  Angela sounded a bit bitter and Brenna felt bad for her.

"No, she just didn't tell me that…"  Brenna didn't want to say anything to make Angela feel bad or get Dominique into trouble with her daughter.  Her daughter.  "You're gonna be my sister."  Brenna blinked in surprise as that registered in her mind, and she didn't notice the shocked look Angela gave her at that moment.  She did notice it after a moment.  "Oh… I…"  Brenna suddenly worried that Angela wouldn't like that Dominique was adopting her.  She still wasn't so comfortable with the idea that Angela would become her sister.  It was one thing to know that Dominique had a daughter, but for it to be Angela was just too weird.  Brenna tried to break this to her gently.  "She's going to adopt me."

"I heard about that."  Angela was staring a little too hard.  "I wanted to talk to you about that."  The slight disapproving tone in Angela's voice reminded Brenna that Dominique had said the entire clan would have a problem with the adoption, including Angela.

"I'm glad she's going to adopt me."  Brenna stood just a little taller.  She fidgeted a little and took another step towards the street.  She should leave, she really should.

"You love her?"  Angela's voice stopped her once again.  Brenna nibbled on her lip, unsure of what to do.  She wanted to stay… she really wanted to stay.  

"Yes.  She's my family now."  Brenna answered a little defensively.  She was talking to Angela, and she knew she shouldn't be.  Her heart was beating a little faster in the feeling of guilt she had.  Her words just got tense silence.  Brenna took another step towards the street.

"My family is called a clan."  Angela started to speak a little louder.  Brenna found herself stopping her retreat to look at the pretty female.  "There aren't really a lot of us, but we watch out for each other."  

Brenna stared into Angela's gentle eyes.  "Maybe if you guys didn't…"  She trailed off.  It wasn't really up to her to tell them how to live, but she remembered being scared when the police captured Angela.  She remembered the things she was afraid that they'd do to the female.

"If we didn't what?"  Angela took a step closer.  She looked at Brenna like she was the most important person around at that moment.  It made Brenna blush again and her heart beat just a little faster.

"If you didn't risk your lives saving humans maybe you'd be safer."  Brenna watched as Angela actually seemed surprised at that.  It just made sense.  Brenna's voice got softer.  "I was so worried when the police arrested you."

"Everything turned out alright though."  Angela seemed to squat down a little so that Brenna didn't have to stare up at her so much.  Gargoyles were all so tall.  Brenna would never even be considered tall for a human.

"Do you have any idea how bad that could have gone?"  Brenna just stared at Angela with a faint look of horror on her face.  "Do you know what the government would have done to you just because you aren't human?"  Angela didn't seem cautious enough, and that scared Brenna.

Angela glanced down for a moment, and Brenna could swear she heard voices, but there weren't other people around and she couldn't really make it out.  Maybe it was from down the street, or she was hearing things.  "I know what could have happened.  I couldn't help but think about it while I was locked up."  Angela spoke and the slight fear in her voice made Brenna move closer.  She felt so bad for the fear the gargoyles must have to live with.  Brenna lived with that fear now too, because she worried about Dominique, but at least she was immortal.  Angela wasn't.  "It was horrible."  Brenna reached out to rest a comforting hand on Angela's arm while staring at her in concern.

The sound of loud and very male laughter from the street startled Brenna and Angela tensed up and took a step back into the shadows.  "Get out of the light."  Angela whispered to her, and Brenna moved to the same shadows Angela had.  The street light from across the street had illuminated some of the alley.  Brenna watched as the men seemed to stop right in the opening of the alley.

"Man, shame Castaway died."  One guy muttered.  "He had the right idea."  Brenna tensed up and glanced nervously at Angela.  The gargoyle leaned in to whisper in her ear.  

"I'm going to climb up the wall.  Hold onto my back.  I don't want to leave you here around them."  Brenna just nodded and held on tightly while Angela slowly, quietly made her way up the four story building.  The Quarrymen, they must be quarrymen, were still standing there talking.

Once they were on the rooftop, Angela leaned over to let Brenna off.  "Not every battle needs to be fought."  Angela gave Brenna a tense smile.  When some rude comments about gargoyles reached their ears Brenna felt so bad for Angela.  The female didn't try to hide that it hurt her.

"They're just stupid."  Brenna murmured softly.  "Humans can be really stupid sometimes."

********

Elisa held the binoculars to her eyes, while envying that Goliath didn't need them to see Angela and Brenna.  "Fox's actors are pretty handy."  She moved her focus to the rough looking trio of men standing in the alley opening.  This was a bit too staged for her to be comfortable with, but Fox was right.  It looked like it was working.

They were listening in on the conversation on the other rooftop through Angela's comm. Device.  Elisa hated to admit it, but Fox really was a good judge of character.  Brenna had obviously struggled with the fact that she'd been told to avoid Angela, but she still stayed.  They were using one female gargoyle to combat the other's influence.  It was just a shame it had to be Angela.  While Angela was definitely smart enough and sensitive enough for this job, it was far too close to home.  Elisa hadn't missed the comments about her mother and the tone of Angela's voice.

"She still needs to get Brenna to agree to glide with her to the castle."  Goliath spoke quietly while watching Brenna trying to comfort his daughter.  They both watched that.  Brenna really was a sweet girl.  She didn't realize that the comments the actors saying were staged, or that while Angela didn't care for the deception, her hurt reaction was an act as well.

"Well if anyone can."  Elisa muttered.  From that building Brenna wasn't getting down unless a gargoyle helped her down.  She had to listen now.

********

Brenna started to walk further away from the side of the building those men were on, hoping that Angela wouldn't be able to hear them that way.  The female gargoyle walked with her.

"So, how did you end up with my mother?"  Angela asked while sitting down on the ledge.  Brenna paced a little in front of the gargoyle.  It was only talking, and maybe she could make Angela see that whatever problem they had with Dominique didn't mean they had the right to try and rip them apart.

"She gave me a job…"  Brenna made her decision to talk.  She turned to face Angela.  The gargoyle's sitting on that ledge actually made Angela more Brenna's height.  "and she'd help me out with my homework before my mom…"  died.  She didn't finish that sentence, there really was no point.  "When the police officer came to my house… I didn't know who else to call.  She was…"  Brenna's body shook and she wrapped her arms around herself as she stood still and took a few deep breaths.  "She was the only other person that cared about me.  She came and took me in.  It was only supposed to be until my mother was… buried."  Brenna glanced up at Angela and could see she had the gargoyle's undivided attention.  "she had such strange rules."  Brenna gave Angela a weak smile.  "I had to stay in my room at night.  She put so much in my room so that I wouldn't need to leave.  T.V., computer, fridge.  It's still like a little apartment."

"How did you find out she was a gargoyle?"

Brenna moved to stand a little closer to Angela.  Angela must know about the immortality.  Dominique wouldn't tell Brenna something she hadn't told her own daughter.  "She came home after someone shot her and…  she was really hurt.  She… I heard her smash through her window and found her on the floor…"  Brenna's body shuddered at the remembered fear.  "bleeding so much.  I didn't know it was her at first."

They both sat silently for a while.  Until Brenna spoke softly.  "She stopped trying to get rid of me after that."

"Trying to get RID of you?"  Angela's head seemed to snap up and she stared into Brenna's eyes.  "What do you mean?"

"I know why she was like that now."  Brenna moved to sit beside Angela and stared down at the roof.  It had hurt when Dominique had acted like she didn't want Brenna around.  "She was trying to get the social workers to hurry up and find me a home.  She called them almost every day.  But they never found anything good."  Brenna's eyes pleaded with Angela.  "But I have something good now."

"So she was going to let you go, until you found out what she was."  Angela sounded a bit too stunned and Brenna didn't like the way she said that.  As if she were a prisoner now.

********

Elisa's eyes widened a little as she listened to the conversation on the other rooftop.  Things were a bit more complicated than they had thought.

"She has become even more devious."  Goliath grumbled as he continued to watch, but Elisa lowered her binoculars for a moment.  Was Demona just pretending to try and get rid of the girl and had always planned to keep her for some reason, or had a… good deed… gotten out of hand?  Could Demona have actually taken in Brenna to help?  That didn't seem right.  Why would Demona help a human kid?  Elisa was starting to feel a little uneasy about this.  At the very least Angela would have doubts now.  That girl always wanted to give Demona the benefit of the doubt.  Elisa was inclined to agree with Goliath that Demona had worked very hard to manipulate the girl.

She pulled her binoculars back up to her eyes.  But if it were true…

The sound of a rocket pack reached her ears before she saw it.  Her.  Damn it, what was Fox doing?  The ex-mercenary was heading right for them.  The exosuit she wore covered her face and her hair was in a ponytail.  This wasn't part of the plan.  They were supposed to talk Brenna into leaving with Angela, not fake an attack and force the girl's hand.

"I really wish she'd told me the ENTIRE plan."  Elisa said between gritted teeth.

********

The noise startled Brenna and she looked up to see an angry looking woman in some sort of suit staring down at them.  "Gargoyle."  The one word held such hatred.  Brenna moved a step to the left without even thinking about it.  Standing between Angela and this woman. 

"What Are you…"  Angela stared at the hovering woman for a second sounding confused.  This wasn't good.  Obviously this was some sort of Quarryman.  When the woman moved to raise an arm Brenna felt like her heart was going to stop.  She was right in the line of fire.

"Stop."  Brenna yelled out, while fighting with the desire to move.  She held her ground and her words seemed to startle the woman into stopping for a moment.  Too bad Brenna couldn't think of other words to follow up with.  Please don't kill us didn't sound nearly forceful enough.  She didn't dare move, because maybe, just maybe this woman would have a problem shooting her to get to Angela.  She was keeping the woman from being able to take that shot.

While she was struggling to come up with something to do, Angela wrapped her arms around her and pulled Brenna with her off of the building.  The air rushed past them as Angela moved to get a better hold on Brenna and Brenna moved to grab her just like she'd grabbed Dominique while they glided.  "We'll try to outrun her."  Angela spoke and she sounded more than a little mad.  Of course Brenna was sure once her fear faded a bit more she'd be pissed too.

Gliding with Angela was nothing like gliding with Dominique.  Angela moved faster, while dodging the laser fire that seemed to follow them and just miss them every time.  Brenna buried her head in Angela's shoulder and prayed that Dominique would find them… save them.

"We don't need her.  I've got this under control."  Angela spoke while dodging to the left sharply.  Brenna hadn't even realized she'd been saying any of that out loud.

********

"Fox is making this look too real."  Elisa muttered as she flinched.  That shot was too close to them.  The fact that she could hear Brenna begging for Dominique to find her really didn't help her feel any better about this.  They'd terrified the girl, and she wanted… her mother figure.  This was not going well. 

"Fox pull back."  Elisa said as soon as she'd found the redhead's comm. signal.  Fox couldn't hear what was going on with Angela and Brenna, because she had some ground crews helping her with the special effects.  It didn't sound like the laser fire was actually real… from the signals Fox was giving out about when to blow certain parts of building walls.  "She's terrified.  Pull back."  Elisa demanded again and watched as Fox slowed her pursuit.  Once she got that woman alone Elisa planned to really express how very much she didn't appreciate being kept out of the loop.  She glared at Fox as the woman turned away from Angela and let them escape.

"Tell Angela to tell Brenna it isn't safe to come back to this neighborhood tonight.  Tell her to take Brenna to the castle."  Fox finally responded.

"All of THIS was to get her to the castle?!"  Elisa growled out.  Goliath's hand moved to rest on her shoulder and she glanced up at him.  He wasn't looking very pleased either.  "Angela was going to talk her into it."

"Brenna isn't the type of girl to disobey Demona that easily.  She needed a push, I gave it to her."

"Why you…"  Elisa's voice started to raise.

"Elisa, maybe we should be getting to the castle.  I do not like Fox's methods any more than you do, but that does not change the fact that Brenna will be arriving there soon."  Goliath interrupted gently, but it didn't stop Elisa glaring at the redhead as she flew over them.  This was far from over.

"Can you drop me off at my apartment on the way?"  When he looked at her in surprise at the request she started to talk a little quieter.  "I'll be along after a little while, but I need my car…"  She felt a bit of shame at the next comment, "and after our last confrontation I think you all will have an easier time getting her to talk if I'm not there right away."  Brenna was bound to tense up and suspect something as soon as she saw Elisa.  

"You were only trying to help."  Goliath spoke softly and Elisa leaned into the gentle caress of her hair.  She'd told him about that disaster at the high school, and he'd been more than understanding.  Elisa, however, couldn't shake the feeling that she'd made a stupid mistake.  "I will drop you off at home if that is what you want, but don't wait too long to come to the castle.  We may need you."

********

Demona sat in the dark with the tranquilizer gun draped over her leg.  Maza's cat sat next to her, on the arm of the chair, lightly purring as she slowly pet it.  She would have thought Maza would have more interesting things to look at in her bedroom, but no.  

The sound of wings out on the detective's patio made her sit further back into the shadows.  If Goliath chose to come in and visit her plan would be ruined.  She'd counted on getting the woman alone.  She watched with unblinking eyes as he leaned down to kiss Elisa before gliding off.  Maza just stared after him a moment, before moving towards the door.

The cat leapt away from her when her body tensed and she lifted the tranquilizer gun.  She had to make sure Maza didn't have a chance to scream, or Goliath might be close enough to hear it.

"Hey Cagney.  You hungry?"  Elisa spoke to the cat that had moved to greet his mistress.  As soon as Maza closed the door Demona risked a glance out the window to see Goliath's shadow had moved away quickly.  He must be in a hurry.  A slight grin came to her lips as she turned to face Maza again, just moments before the woman was about to turn on the lights.

"Oh, there's no need to do that."  Demona felt a thrill of pleasure at the detective's suddenly tense pose, moments before the dart hit her in the neck.  Demona's sense of victory was enhanced as those wide eyes stared at her in disbelief while Maza fell to the ground.  "You may have stolen my mate Maza, but you won't be getting my Brenna."  The cat was screeching in confused fear, but Demona just ignored it, swatting it aside to lean down over the nearly unconscious detective.  "I really should have done this long ago."  Demona whispered into Elisa's ear before Elisa finally lost consciousness.  

She then picked up the woman and moved towards her bedroom.  She'd managed to prepare it for the spell while she waited.  It wouldn't be long and she'd have her own Maza puppet to control for the rest of Maza's life.


	9. Ripped Apart Part 5

**Ripped Apart **Part 5

By Princess Alexandria   Princess_alex24@hotmail.com

Brenna was now watching the sky behind them, tensely waiting for that woman to suddenly appear like all the villains in the horror movies did.  She was going with Angela to her home, and the fact that it was so beyond against the rules that Dominique's head would probably spin all the way around also worried her.

"You could drop me off and I could take a cab home."  Brenna said yet again.  "Really, I'd be alright."

"No, it's the middle of the night.  It's not safe for a young girl to wander around looking for a cab."  Angela said as she gained altitude and Brenna risked taking her eyes off of where they'd been to see the Eyrie coming closer.

"You live there?  I mean it isn't just a rumor?"  Brenna couldn't misinterpret their destination and the fact that she'd been there before, probably not far from where Angela slept was nagging at her.

"Yes."  Angela moved closer to the castle, and Brenna could see someone standing on the wall.

"I'll need to call Gencie.  And I need to call home."  Brenna was trying to think of what else she should do.  People were going to be upset with her regardless.  Angela seemed to tense up a bit, but she moved to land.  She wasn't as smooth about her landing as Dominique was, not that Brenna had a lot of experience going out with Dominique.  The redhead had only taken her out once.

Brenna stood a little nervously, feeling on display as a smaller gargoyle with green skin and strange wings stared at her.  After a moment he stepped closer and smiled.  "Hi, I'm Lex."

"I'm Brenna."  Brenna gave him a small smile.  He seemed really friendly.  She then turned to Angela.  "Can I use a phone?"  She was a little worried that she wouldn't be allowed to.

"Oh, of course."  A different voice answered.  Brenna looked beyond Angela's shoulder to see Mr. Burnett.  "If you come with me to my office."

"Ah… Thank you."  Brenna took a deep breath.  At least she could call.  It wasn't really her fault that she was here.  Dominique would have to forgive her.

********

Demona moved around the bed.  "I bind thee in body, as I'll bind thee in mind."  She spoke quietly in Latin as she fastened each individual manacle, spreading the detective's arms and legs towards the corners of her bed.  The candles flickered eerily on the walls, but really magic was meant to be done by firelight, not electricity.  This spell had far too many rituals to it, but she could enjoy each and every one knowing that she would at least finally be rid of Maza as a threat.  Her voice practically caressed the words that Elisa couldn't have understood had she even been conscious.  Of course she'd have to be conscious for some of the spell, but the preparation work didn't need that.

Elisa lay clad in only her underwear, not that Demona got any satisfaction from that except to know it would be making the human feel very vulnerable once she realized it.  

Demona sat on the side of the bed and reached over to the bowl she'd brought with her for this spell.  The consistency of the red paste was perfect now.  She took the brush and got started on the markings.  This would be much easier to do when the detective wasn't squirming, and once they dried only casting the spell would make them fade.  "I bind thee in spirit as I'll bind thee in mind."  Demona whispered again in Latin before moving to write the first symbol on her victim.  She moved with sure hands as quickly as she could, because she didn't want to have the woman wake up and make this part difficult.  No she wanted everything in place before Maza woke up.  That human would barely get a moment of free will before she was bound, just long enough for Demona to torture her with the knowledge that she was no longer a free woman, she was Demona's Pet.

********

Brenna put the phone down slowly after listening to Gencie yell at her for scaring her.  She hadn't had a lie ready, so she told her friend that she'd tell her what happened later, but she'd needed to go home right away.  Not a good cover story at all.  Maybe Dominique could help her with that.

She then stood tensely behind Mr. Burnett's desk while waiting for Dominique to answer the phone.  She waited and waited, but nothing.  Dominique must be out gliding, but the answering machine should have at least picked up.  "I guess I'll have to call later."  She muttered her herself, but she was more tense than she had been.  She didn't have the access codes to the security system at home.  She couldn't leave here without Dominique being home.  She was trapped here, with the people Dominique told her to avoid.

"You all done?"  A deep male voice asked from the doorway, pulling Brenna's eyes away from the phone.  He was a dark haired human with a beard.  He looked familiar.

"Yeah."  Brenna sounded a bit defeated to her own ears, as she moved to leave the office.

"Oh, excuse me."  He smiled at her.  "I forgot to introduce myself.  I'm David Xanatos."  He held out a hand and Brenna slowly moved to shake it.

"I'm Brenna McCullen."  This was Fox's husband, and the richest man in New York.  Too bad Brenna was too tense to be impressed. 

He moved to lean against the doorway and his smile faded a little.  "I used to know your mother.  I was sorry to hear what happened."  That made her stare at him.  Her mother had never said anything about knowing David Xanatos.  He was always in the news, he was rich, surely he would have been mentioned at least once.  "She used to work for me."  He spoke softly, obviously sensing Brenna's confusion.  Brenna noticed him staring at her a bit strangely for a moment.  When had she done that?  Brenna didn't remember her mother working here.  "You look a lot like her.  You have her eyes."

What do you say to something like that?  "Thank you."  Brenna hazarded a guess.  She actually didn't think she looked that much like her mother.  Her hair was black, her skin was more olive, her cheekbones more pronounced.  She was shorter than most people though, just like her mother though.  

"Well, you want to meet the clan?"  He pushed off from the doorway, obviously ready to take her to them.

"Maybe it would be better if I just stayed in here and tried to call home again in a few minutes."  Brenna nibbled on her lip.  She was supposed to avoid the clan, but she wanted to see them.  She hated these rules, but Dominique had been so sure they'd try to do something to mess up things.

"You can't just hide away in here."  Mr. Xanatos moved to open the door wider.  "They don't bite."

********

Demona carefully finished the body writing and stood back to admire her work.  Her symbols were perfectly placed, leaving Elisa looking very much like a human sacrifice.  Too bad that wasn't the plan.  

The bed had been moved to the center of the bedroom, leaving Demona room to walk all the way around it.  She poured out the salt in a circle around the bed.  "I bind your body, I bind your spirit, I bind your mind."  She repeated several times in Latin as she made her slow progress around the bed.  The circle of salt had to be thick enough.  The bag she'd brought with all her supplies had been mostly salt weight.  "Elisa Maza, human born, I bind your body, I bind your spirit, I bind your mind."  Demona spoke a bit more loudly as the circle was finally closed.  She just needed to place some of the salt onto her intended victim now to finish this ritual.  She was right, this one was far too elaborate to have used on Goliath.  Demona moved to the bed, careful to leave her circle unbroken and finally found a use for the ridiculous human belly button.  She poured her salt into the fleshy container.

The symbols on Elisa's flesh seemed to glow for a brief moment, letting Demona know that she'd completed that ritual and was ready for the next.  Anytime Elisa wanted to wake up now would be good.  The spell casting was primed and ready to go.  Demona set her spell book down beside the bed and settled in to wait.

********

"Hi, I'm Brooklyn, and this is Bronx."  The male smiled at her gently and Brenna tried not to stare.  He had a beak, and she'd gotten so used to more human like features on the gargoyles she knew.  He wasn't really bad looking, just really different.

"Hi."  Brenna took the hand he held out to shake easily enough.  She'd had practice since Lex, Broadway, and Hudson had wanted to shake her hand as well when they introduced themselves.

Lexington was not really sitting on the couch, more like squatting on the arm watching them and Angela was never far away from Brenna.  Brenna appreciated that, since she kinda knew her and these people were strangers.

When someone came into the library where they all were Brenna noticed Angela's eyes flash red at the person a moment before she turned to see who it was.  Fox was a bit damp from a shower, but she smiled warmly at Brenna.  "I see you decided to drop by."  Fox then glanced at Angela briefly before moving closer to them.  It was a good thing this room was so big, since there were so many people in it.  

"Oh, here comes Goliath."  Lex said a bit nervously while glancing out towards the doors to the castle walls.  Brenna recognized him easily.  He was huge, purple, and had been in the news quite a bit when he'd been wrongfully arrested.  It was the clan leader.

"Father, I'd like you to meet Brenna."  Angela said and Brenna's eyes widened a little.  This was Angela's father.  He smiled at her gently and moved close enough to hold out a hand.

"It is good to finally meet you Brenna.  Angela told us a lot about when you and she met."  Angela had talked about her?  Brenna felt a warm blush cover her cheeks at this confirmation that Angela had indeed remembered her.

"It's nice to meet you too."  Brenna glanced a bit nervously over at Angela, for some sort of guidance.  Was she supposed to bow or something?  Was he a king?  He kept looking at her like he expected something.

"Hey Brenna.  Would you like something to eat?"  Broadway asked to fill the silence. 

"Um,"  Brenna glanced over at him.  "I really shouldn't be here long.  In fact I should go try and call home again."  She noticed Brooklyn tense up a little at that, but he didn't say anything.  

"I heard that you are a member of People for Interspecies Tolerance."  Goliath interrupted smoothly.

Brenna blushed a bit.  They sure knew a lot about her.  "I was."

"Why aren't you now?"  Fox asked while moving to lean against the back of a couch.

"Dominique thinks its too dangerous.  The Quarrymen are still out there and they've attacked P.I.T. groups before."  Brenna had been a little disappointed with that, but she hadn't put up any fuss.  She hadn't really felt up to going anyhow.

"Well that is a shame."  Fox spoke softly.

"She's right."  Brenna moved to glance at Goliath.  "Angela and I were attacked, Dominique keeps getting attacked.  It's dangerous out there."  He really shouldn't be sending the clan out there where people tried to kill them.  If Brenna thought she could keep Dominique safely at home she would.

"Wait, you were attacked?  Tonight?"  Brooklyn stared at them a little confused looking.  What did they always get lucky when they went out?

"Some crazy bit…"  Brenna blushed when she noticed Fox raising an eyebrow at her like Dominique did when she swore too much.  "lady tried to shoot us."

"Really?"  Broadway moved closer to Angela and was looking at her in real concern.  Brenna felt more than a little out of place when he took Angela's hand.  She had to pull her eyes away and noticed Fox looking at her.  Brenna moved to stare at Bronx, sitting so comfortably in front of Hudson's feet.

"It wasn't that big of a deal."  Angela comforted the clan while glaring at Fox.  

"I hope she fell out of the sky."  Brenna muttered quietly to herself, but the fact that a few people glanced at her made her realize it wasn't that quiet.  Well, it wasn't like that woman hadn't tried to kill her and Angela.  She'd deserve it.

"Yes, this city can be dangerous, for all of its inhabitants at times."  Goliath's talking forced Brenna's attention back to her.

"Yeah."  Brenna bit back her wish that the clan was more careful, it could be seen as criticizing Goliath.

"As a clan we try to make it a little safer lass."  Hudson finally spoke, but he was also busy petting Bronx, so he wasn't looking at Brenna.

"Yes, we fight different threats to the safety of this city."  Goliath nodded to Hudson like he'd done something helpful.  The younger male gargoyles were fidgeting just a little and Brenna glanced at them briefly before looking up at the leader again.  "Sometimes the dangers to this city have been truly threatening.  Most of the humans here aren't aware of what all has happened, what all we have managed to prevent."

"Yeah, like that Lost Night the news reporters talked about."  Brooklyn interjected quickly and then just shrugged when Broadway and Lex looked at him.  

"I remember that."  Brenna had wondered about it, and the idea that it was some sort of mass hysteria or something… the theories had all been so crazy.

Goliath moved to caress Angela's arm gently before stepping closer to Brenna.  "That night an enemy of the clan cast a spell that turned humans to stone.  She proceeded to destroy as many as she could… the people that went missing that night."  Brenna just blinked at him.

"Stone?"  Someone turned people to stone?  Could magic really do that?  When Dominique told her magic was real she hadn't considered that type of thing possible.  Had she been stone?

"We've also fought to stop a virus that could have..."  Lex spoke up quickly while Brenna was still working on wrapping her mind around the idea that magic was that powerful, and these gargoyles had to fight that.

"Maybe we are moving a little fast."  Fox interrupted with a hint of authority while looking at Brenna.

"Magic can change people to stone?"  Brenna asked Fox since she was the one looking at her.  

"Yes.  I was lucky to be with David when it happened.  I was flying a helicopter and we would have crashed."

"Wow."  Brenna had been asking Dominique if she could do relatively small things with magic, like growing hair, she'd never thought to ask what someone COULD do with magic.  

"Do you know anything about magic?"  Angela asked while staring at Brenna so hard Brenna thought she'd blush under the female's attention.

"Dominique said…"  Brenna trailed off as her eyes moved to Fox and David.

"We already know she's an gargoyle and a sorceress."  Fox gave Brenna a gentle smile.

"Oh."  Brenna hesitated just a moment longer, but this was too interesting.  "Dominique hasn't told me a lot.  I know it's magic that lets her change forms.  She said that there need to be spells for whatever someone wants, you can just make up new ones to grow hair."  When that got a puzzled look Brenna felt embarrassed.  "I asked her if she could make my hair grow faster, because this…"  She touched the sides of her head.  "Looks stupid while its growing out.  She told me that while hair is sometimes used in spells, there aren't spells about hair."

"It is growing in pretty nicely on its own.  It was much shorter when I saw you last time."  Fox moved closer and ran her fingers through the short part of Brenna's hair.  "Why exactly are you growing it out."

Brooklyn looked impatient with the change of topic, so Brenna kept her answer short.  "Dominique said humans base too much on appearance and she was worried that the judge would think I was a junkie or something."  Brenna's jaw clenched tight for a moment.  This was a bit embarrassing.  "I can have my hair any way I want after… but I have to look more normal by the court date."  She glanced at these people that Dominique said would have a problem with them being family.  "We don't want anything screwing up her adopting me.  If I have to look stupid for a while, I can do that."

********

Elisa groaned and tried to shift her arms.  She couldn't move.  So tired.  The breeze in the room was a little chilly.  Needed to get up and close a window.  Instead she just rolled her head to the side and fell back to sleep.

********

"Why do you want HER to adopt you?"  Brooklyn asked and Brenna glared at him.  He sounded too disgusted by the whole thing.  "Surely there are nice human families to take kids in."

Brenna just stared at him a moment.  "You don't know much about humans then do you?"  That seemed to surprise him.  "Humans only want babies.  They don't adopt kids my age.  I would have been put in a group home with kids that would pick on me.  No one would have cared about me."  

"You don't know that.  I'm sure that…"

"No, I do know that."  Brenna's eyes slide to the ground.  This was a painful subject, she'd really believed for a while that she'd be put in that system, that Dominique wouldn't keep her.  "I did a little research.  It's what I'm good at.  The placement rate for kids my age was really bad."  Her cheeks flushed a little as she moved back up to see him watching her carefully.  "And the foster care system is really scary if you're a girl."

"What do you mean?"

Fox spoke softly.  "We don't need to talk about that."  Brenna could see in Fox's eyes that she knew what Brenna was talking about.

"I'm so much luckier than other kids.  I have Dominique."  Brenna felt like she was defending herself.  The way they looked at her made her tense.  "She loves me."  Brenna had known the woman loved her before Dominique ever said it.  The way she acted with Brenna, protected her, Brenna knew.

"Demona doesn't know the…"  Brooklyn started angrily and Brenna noticed a few people glare at him before his words trailed off.  Her own glare was one of them.  

"I should really try and call her again."  Brenna was starting to worry that she was a prisoner when the gargoyles exchanged glances.

"Sure, you know where Owen's office is.  Go right ahead."  Fox smiled at her.  

"But…" Lex spoke up.

"No, it's okay if Brenna wants to try and call Demona."  Brenna watched as Fox said that and Lex's eyes widened for just a moment.

********

Demona could hear that damned cat yowling at the bedroom door and for a brief moment considered just killing it so that it would be quiet.  Instead she cracked open the door and threw one of Maza's shoes at it.  That gray cat dodged away and didn't come near the door again.  Sure the cat might have woken the detective up, but it was irritating.

"Maza, Maza, Maza…"  Demona circled the bed.  "Perhaps I should have given you a little less of that tranquilizer.  Humans are rather frail.  I must have forgotten that."  She'd hurried her other parts of the spell thinking she only had limited time, and now she was bored.  

She then sat down on the chair outside of the circle of salt and just stared at the human.  "All this time I thought killing you would be best and now I'm actually glad I didn't get that opportunity."  Maza had a lot of influence with the clan, and from what she'd seen of the human and Goliath tonight, her influence with him was pretty much complete now.  It really should have been more of a surprise, but Demona had seen this perverse relationship coming.  Even Thailog had been drawn to the detective.

Demona pulled herself out of those disturbing thoughts with the image of Maza as her own personal spy.  Maza would help convince the clan that Brenna belonged with Demona.  After that perhaps Demona could use Maza in other ways.  Perhaps to get Angela to give her another chance.  A slight smile crossed Demona's lips, and Maza would be aware of it all.  On the inside the human would be seething as she did what Demona commanded.  She would be able to torment Maza on a regular basis without even having to be there.  No, this was much better than killing her.

********

Brenna closed Mr. Burnett's door behind her.  The answer machine was still not working and Dominique wasn't home.  

"I came to make sure you could get back upstairs."  Mr. Xanatos was suddenly walking beside her and at his late hour with her nerves nearly shot she flinched at his sudden appearance.  "The elevator's won't let just anyone get to the castle."  He explained while hitting the button to go back up.

"Oh.  Thanks."  She had a billionaire playing at escort?  This was a bit weird.  Dominique would have just sent Gregory to do this.

Once they were in the elevator and the doors closed Brenna noticed he didn't move to hit any buttons.  He just turned to face her.  "I'm curious.  Do you know anything about your father?  Who he might be?"

What?  Were they thinking of finding him so that a man that was little more than a stranger would take her away from Dominique.  Dominique was right, these people were dangerous.  "No, I don't know anything."  Brenna felt a flush of shame at what she was about to say.  Her mother would understand.  She would.  "I'm not sure mom knew who he was."  Brenna couldn't give anyone any leads.  

"Oh."  He just stared at Brenna a little too long.  "She used to work for me when I first started up Xanatos Enterprises.  That must have been…"  He looked like he was doing math in his head.  "About sixteen or seventeen years ago."  

Brenna felt like her heart had stopped and it was a big effort to not gasp.  "Oh."  She gave a minimal reply as she moved to glance at the buttons he hadn't pushed yet.  This was not happening.  

"She was a really nice woman."  He spoke softly.

"Yeah."  Brenna agreed quietly.  She wasn't used to talking about her mother too much, and certainly not with people she hadn't known before her mother's death.  "Shouldn't we get back up there?"

"I'm sure the clan is eager to talk with you some more."  He smiled at her and Brenna forced herself not to stare at him.  He could very well be her father, and she couldn't let him know that.  He had black hair.  That thought came to her easily as she tried to focus on the elevator door in silence.  His skin was darker, like hers.  God dammit, why now?

Brenna stepped out of the elevator as soon as it opened.  She was going to need to be much better at secrets if she wanted to stay with Dominique.  He was part of the group that didn't want her with the woman, and Brenna really did love her.  He could screw everything up if he found out about… if he really was…

"You aren't looking too well."  The man said while opening the library door.

"I just want to go home."  Brenna's eyes held her challenge.  With Dominique was home.

The clan was looking much more solemn when Brenna came back.  It gave her the impression they'd been talking about something important while she was gone, and she just knew it had to do with her.  She really wasn't liking how she had everyone's attention, and moved to stand near Angela, but just a little behind her.  

"Brenna,"  Goliath sighed.  Not good.  "There is no easy way to say this.  We have tried to think of one."  The look of sympathy in his eyes reminded Brenna of the look that officer had when he told Brenna her mother was dead.  It was almost even the same words.  Brenna had relived that day in her nightmares enough to know.

"She's okay right?"  Brenna's voice was suddenly higher than normal and she was shaking just a little.  Demona said she was immortal.  "She can't die on me.  She promised."  A hand moved to rest on her shoulder and Brenna barely noticed it.  "She promised."

"No, no mother is alright."  Angela spoke softly and Brenna barely registered the glance she gave Goliath at that.  Brenna just clung to the fact that she wasn't an orphan again.  The room was quiet while Brenna took a few deep breaths and tried to control the fear she'd suddenly felt.  "It's okay.  Brenna…"  Angela pulled her into a hug and Brenna just let her.  "Father didn't mean for it to sound like that."

"Oh Lass…"  Hudson spoke quietly and Brenna looked up from her place in Angela's arms to see the concern in his eyes.

********

Demona moved closer to the now slowly waking detective.  A cruel smile came to her as she waited for Maza to be aware enough of her surroundings to let her in on her fate.  She took a gag and roughly put it on the woman so that she didn't try to call out for help.  A neighbor might hear her after all.  

Maza's eyes opened quickly at the rough treatment and Demona smiled as those eyes widened even more once they were able to focus.  "Well, looks like you finally woke up and just in time too."

********

Brenna was feeling a little calmer now.  The eyes watching her as she tried to pull herself back together were creepy though.

"What I wanted to tell you is that Demona hates humans."  Goliath spoke a little quickly and Brenna just stared at him a moment.

"I know that."  That wasn't a huge secret.  Demona had told her as much after she'd been shot, and the way they sometimes joked about the stupidity of the human race made it seem rather clear.  

"You… You know?"  Lex asked quietly while staring at Brenna as if she'd grown a spare head.  Brenna's eyes traveled around the room and all the gargoyles looked a bit surprised at this.

"Well, yeah."  When everyone looked like they wanted her to elaborate Brenna felt a bit on the spot.  "She told me she hates humans, but she likes me."

"She did?"  Angela asked Brenna and then stared up at Goliath for a moment.  Brenna was just watching a silent staring conversation, but Brooklyn spoke, drawing her attention.

"Did she tell you what she does with humans?  What she wants to do with humans?"

"Brooklyn, wait a minute."  Angela spoke, but he just stared at Brenna.

"She wants them all dead."  Brooklyn spoke a bit softly.  "I'm sorry kid, but Demona has tried to kill off the humans of this city so many times.  She's the one that made the humans turn to stone."

Brenna just stared at him until he fidgeted, but she wasn't really seeing him.  "Why?"

"What do you mean why?  She's just crazy!"

"No."  Brenna's eyes swept over the gargoyles and Fox and David.  They were all looking at her with concern.  "She said to not believe everything you said.  This is sick."  She glared at Brooklyn.  "I'm calling home again.  I want to leave."

She'd taken a few steps to the door when Angela spoke.  "It's true Brenna.  Demona did that spell.  She's also tried to kill off humanity with a virus, and she tried to kill my father."

"She smashed people stuck as stone.  She killed them when they were helpless."  Brooklyn added.

"Brooklyn, that is enough."  Goliath spoke quietly while staring at Brenna.  Pity, that was pity in his eyes.

Brenna's hands clenched as she stood still.  They made Dominique sound like a monster.  She wasn't.  "I'm calling home."  Her voice cracked.

When Lex opened his mouth to speak, Fox interrupted him.  "I'll show you to the office."  Brenna already knew the way, but she quietly followed the redhead.  

They stood quietly for a moment in the elevator and Brenna preferred it that way.  She was angry that they'd say things like that.  "If you are worried you don't have anywhere else to go, you do."  Fox spoke quietly.  "We could take you in, you'd be safe here."

Brenna felt a familiar fear hit her.  "No, it isn't necessary.  I'm going home."  Brenna spoke coldly.  The elevator door opened and Brenna moved quickly to the door of Mr. Burnett's office.  Fox trailed a distance after her, giving her privacy at least.

******** 

Demona watched Elisa struggle to talk as Demona cut a small lock of the detective's hair off with a decorative dagger.  She then slowly made a slice in the human's skin and watched a few beads of blood well up.  Elisa tried to flinch away.  "It isn't magic without a little blood."  Demona teased, before dipping the end of the lock of hair she'd stolen into the blood on Elisa's upper arm.  It was a small wound, no one should notice it.

"Brenna is mine Detective."  Demona spoke coldly while working on braiding the lock of hair she now owned.  "I won't allow anyone to take my child from me, let alone you."  The woman tried to talk around her gag for a moment, but Demona ignored her.  The yelling and cutting words Elisa had to say would be extinguished once the spell was over.  "You probably already regret interfering, but this is just the beginning."

********

Elisa watched as Demona finished braiding the hair.  She could feel the sticky feel of paint on her body.  Demona was muttering to herself, or talking to Elisa, but the things she said stunned the detective.  This wasn't about vengeance, about the clan.  Demona was going to do what sounded like a very serious spell on her because she was afraid Elisa would take her child.  Demona considered Brenna her child.  Oh shit.

Elisa tried to work free of the chains, but they held strong.  Demona was vicious when protecting Angela, and if Brenna was considered Demona's child… how could Demona have actually come to care about a human?  If she could just spit the gag out she could tell Demona they had Brenna.  It would give her some leverage, since it really appeared that Demona cared about Brenna.

"Stop screaming.  It will all be over soon."  Demona held up the woven lock of hair.  Elisa tried to struggle harder. 

********

"Pick up!"  Brenna yelled into the phone.  Nothing but ringing, no answering machine, no Dominique.  "Please just pick up."  

"Brenna."  Angela's voice made her spin around and stare at the female opening the office door.

"How could you say things like that?"  Brenna slammed the useless phone down.  Angela was her hero, and she was Dominique's daughter.  "She's not a monster.  You guys act like she's a monster."

"Brenna, she's my mother.  I know how much it hurts to believe these things, but it's true."  Angela spoke softly, as if soothing a child.  "I was there when she tried to kill off all of the humans on the planet.  Father stopped her, but it was really close.  Come back upstairs.  You need to hear this."

"I'm not supposed to talk to any of you."  Brenna swallowed hard.

"And this is why.  She didn't want us to warn you."

Brenna didn't have anywhere she could go.  She followed Angela back upstairs.  

********

Demona pulled the gag out of Elisa mouth.  "What was so important?"  She snapped at the detective.  Maza had been trying to get that gag off while Demona had been talking to her and Demona didn't like the detective not giving Demona her full attention.  If she let the woman speak a little then she could continue with what she'd been doing.

"We have Brenna at the castle."  Maza spoke and Demona just stared at her in disbelief for a moment.  "They're probably telling her everything right now."

"I have to go."  Demona spoke coldly while looking around the room at her supplies.  She didn't have anything but that tranquilizer gun with her, but she didn't have time to get something more lethal from home.  Maybe she could swing by NightStone.  

She took a few steps towards the door when Maza called out to her.  "keys?"  Demona gritted her teeth.  She'd like to take time to put the detective in her place properly, but she didn't have time.

Demona marched over to one side of the bed and undid one hand.  She then put the key in that hand.  "You can handle the rest."  As she moved to leave the bedroom she turned to face the detective.  The markings had all faded cleanly.  

********

Brenna sat on the couch, just staring at the T.V. blankly.  "I know it's hard to believe."  Brooklyn had moved to sit beside her after the meeting where they all talked about Demona and what she'd done.  "But we had to tell you.  She might be planning to hurt you.  She hates all humans."  He was so convinced that Demona was lying to Brenna for some reason, a few of them were, most of them were.

Demona had really done those things. 

The blare of an alarm startled Brenna into sitting up straighter.  It was also making Brooklyn's eyes burn.  Male's eyes burned white instead of red.  Brenna hadn't known that.

"Stay in here, it'll be safer."  He muttered while getting up and moving for the doors.

"What's going on?"  Brenna asked as Lex moved to run past her.

"We're under attack.  It'll be alright, just stay in here."  Brenna just nodded at him.  


	10. Ripped Apart Part 6

**Ripped Apart **Part 6

By Princess Alexandria   Princess_alex24@hotmail.com

Demona growled as she dove down towards the castle.  She'd gotten to the detective too late.  The clan must have had Brenna before Maza even walked into the apartment.  

Demona took careful aim at the main cannons in the turrets, very careful.  Angela and Brenna were in there somewhere.  Probably the library.  The clan started running out of the castle and taking to the air.  A cold determined stare came to Demona's eyes as she took aim at the nearest gargoyle, Goliath.  She fired.  She missed.  "DAMN YOU!"  Demona's voice raged.  "This was none of your concern."  

Goliath came closer, too close to hit with this weapon, so Demona pulled out the other one.  A super powered Tazer that was being developed by her company.  Right now the prototype was too strong for a human, not that Demona would have minded human deaths, but it would do for this quite well.

He jerked in shock as the electricity went through him, and Demona barely gave him any more notice as he started to plummet to the ground.  Brooklyn and Broadway stopped his descent before he slammed into the castle floor.  

"Demona."  Angela's voice was right behind her and Demona dove to avoid a tackle, but Angela's foot still managed to send Demona's large rocket launcher tumbling through the air.  Demona hissed in annoyance.

"I'm here for Brenna."  Demona whipped around and glared at her daughter.  Her true daughter.  "You had no right to take her."  She'd stayed long enough to hear from Maza how they'd captured her little girl, and that Angela had played such a role in this felt like a physical blow.  Angela's eyes widened for just a moment.

The pain of the impact as something hit her from behind was quickly blocked in her mind as Demona spun in the air to try and get out of the grasp… red skin.  Brooklyn was trying to slam her into the castle wall.  They were falling quickly.  She hit the button on her belt before spinning to rip her talons over his back.  He jerked in pain and let her go.  She barely managed to pull up before hitting the castle wall.

Her robots, ones that really were poorly suited to this attack but where all that she had at work assembled and ready to go, started for the castle.  Now that the main cannons were destroyed they would be able to make it.  They had little defense capability, and were just square shapes with eight legs, a rocket pack to fly, and drilling tools.  They were never meant to be weapons, they were tools, but with a little reprogramming they'd at least buy Demona some time.  

"What the…"  Brooklyn's yelp let Demona know one of her robots had found him.  She risked a glance to see how the untested device was working and found it wrapping its legs around Brooklyn's body, and obstructing his wings.  Lexington was moving towards his brother to help.  Demona dove towards the door to the library.  She didn't have a lot of time, because she didn't have a lot of robots.  

"Brenna!"  Demona yelled out as she landed on the castle floor and started towards where she expected the girl was.  Brooklyn landed in front of her, with Lexington at his side.

"You aren't going anywhere near her again."  Brooklyn growled at her, as if he had the right to tell her that.  "She knows now, she knows everything.  She doesn't want to talk to you."

"She's just a kid Demona."  Lexington added his two cents and Demona glared at him.  Yes, she was just a kid… one they kidnapped.  They told Brenna?  The girl wasn't ready.

Demona's eyes blazed red.  "BASTARDS!"  

"Demona leave this place."  Goliath sounded weak, and when he stepped out of the shadow he looked it.  At least the test on the tazer worked.

"Not without..."  Demona growled at him.  "BRENNA!"  She yelled as loudly as she could.  Hopefully the girl could hear her.  Demona was not taking Brooklyn's word that Brenna didn't want to see her.  No, Brenna would at least give her a chance to explain.  Her child wouldn't just turn her back so easily.  

********

Brenna could hear Dominique calling her and stood up.  Hudson was on his feet already and in the way, facing the doors.  Dominique yelled once more for her and Brenna clenched her fists.  She didn't know what to do.  The stories the clan told her kept running through her head, but she could also remember the woman that held her while she cried next to her mother's grave.  The woman that was working so hard to keep them together as a family.

"I need to go."  Brenna told Hudson when he noticed she was moving.  She had to see her, she couldn't just hide from her because of what she'd been told.  There were questions the clan hadn't been able to answer and had actually seemed like they never asked.  She couldn't just… Dominique had come for her.  Just her.

"No Lass.  It's not a place for you out there right now."

Brenna stared at him in shock.  Dominique just came to get her.  "What are they gonna hurt her?"  She was moving around the back of the couch and towards the doors before he had a chance to answer.  

"Lass!"  Hudson moved to grab her arm.  "Demona might be willing to fight, you could get hurt."

"What?"  Brenna turned to glare at him.  "Just let me talk to her."    

"Brenna, she could hurt you."  Hudson stared at her as if willing her to behave.  Brenna realized the old gargoyle had no intention of letting her go out there.  He thought he was protecting her.  Was he really?  Would Dominique really hurt her just because she knew now?  The clan was so convinced that Dominique was using Brenna in some way, or that she fully planned to hurt Brenna.

"Okay."  Brenna sighed and moved back.  He let her arm go and turned to the sudden sound of fighting.  Dominique was fighting…  Brenna glanced at Hudson and could see him holding his sword now and looking ready for battle.  No.

She moved slowly back as if she were going to do what he said, but the scream from Dominique was so angry.  The fighting sounded so loud.  It was this entire clan against one female… one female that had come here for Brenna.  

Brenna moved quickly, running around the gargoyle and moving towards the doors.  She could hear him moving to try and grab her again; so she started to run faster.

********

Elisa drove as fast as she could to the castle.  Demona was going to attack, and she couldn't call and warn them.  She'd been told to never let anyone know about what Demona did tonight.  Elisa had actually broke her phone when she realized that her fingers wouldn't let her dial and warn them.

"Oh God Demona, what the hell have you done to me?"  Elisa's felt like screaming it out.  She pulled up in front of the Eyrie and leapt out of her car.  She had to at least try to help the clan… and protect Brenna.  She had to protect Brenna.  Demona wouldn't have it any other way, and regardless of what Demona did, Brenna really was an innocent in all of this.  

"We never even considered that Demona could actually love her."  Elisa muttered under her breath as she rode the elevator up.  If she'd known how personal the relationship between Brenna and Demona was she would have at least known that Demona would come after her for interfering, that Demona would… do this to her.  Elisa's fist clenched as she fought a wave of helplessness.  

Before she told Demona about Brenna being captured, it looked like Demona was going to taunt her and play with the new spell all night.  The gargoyle hated Elisa and probably had been wanting an opportunity to humiliate her like that ever since they met, but one word about Brenna and she just let her go.  Granted she was still under that spell, but it made it clear that having Brenna in her life outranked vengeance against Elisa to Demona.  As far as Elisa knew she'd only heard about one other time that Demona had stood up for someone and let her vengeance fall to the wayside.  When Thailog tried to kill Angela.  Elisa really underestimated Demona this time.

********

Brenna was out the door and turning towards the sounds of a fight.  That was how she noticed the green body hurling towards her.  She screamed and ducked as Lexington sailed over her and hit the wall.

Dominique was surrounded by the rest of the clan and her eyes were blazing redder than Brenna had ever seen them.  Brenna could see she'd been hurt, she had cuts on her and was bleeding a little.  The other gargoyles looked bruised and banged up as well.

"It ends now Demona."  Goliath growled out, while leaping at Dominique.  Brenna's eyes were wide as she watched Dominique fight him.  He was huge and every time he swung at the blue skinned female Brenna felt her heart skip a beat.  Demona was tackled to the ground by Brooklyn and Broadway moved in to help hold her down.  Broadway got tossed through the air for his efforts but Brooklyn and Goliath managed to capture her and hold her down.  "We will lock you back up in your cage."  Lock her up?  Brenna barely noticed Lexington walk around her a bit unsteadily, while giving her a concerned glance.

"Judge and jury.  You never tire of that role do you Goliath."  

"Brenna is staying with us."

"Brenna is mine."  Demona couldn't get out of this.  "You will give her back to me or I'll take her after I've killed you."

"You are not in any position to make threats Demona."

Brooklyn's eyes were burning.  "She doesn't want to talk to you."  Brenna's eyes moved to glare at him when he said that.  She'd never once said she didn't want to see Dominique again.  The males were all so intent on Dominique that they didn't even notice she was there.

"Lass, get in here."  Hudson moved to her side and Brenna just jerk her arm away when he went to grab it.

********

Elisa stood in the shadows of the doorway and watched the fight unfold.  She stayed quietly in the shadows watching as Brenna moved a little closer.  Demona had been captured and was being held down on the ground.  Elisa's body tensed as she stared at the scene.  She wanted to go out there and tell the clan what Demona had done to her, but she couldn't.  She tried to speak and the words were blocked.

She stepped out of the shadows and Demona's eyes traveled over her.  Elisa noticed the slight smirk and knew she was supposed to help.  "Is it really a good idea to just lock her up again?"  Hell, yes her mind cried out, but that wasn't the words coming out of her mouth.  "She has custody of Brenna and runs a company.  If she goes missing now it will be noticed."

"Human law cannot touch her.  She needs to be punished for her crimes."  Goliath spoke while staring down at Demona.

"And human law would say we were the criminals today if we do this."  Elisa glanced over at Brenna and could see the girl was shaken.  How much had she been told?  "Kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment… I can't be part of this Goliath, and I don't know that even Xanatos can cover this up… there are Social Workers keeping an eye on them now.  Just because we get rid of Demona doesn't mean we'd get Brenna either.  You can't just grab kids you want Goliath."

Brooklyn pulled harder on Demona's arm when the female tried to make eye contact with Elisa, causing her to hiss in pain.  Brenna took a step closer then.  "Don't hurt her."  Elisa could hear the fear and concern in the girl's voice.     

********

"Brenna…"  Angela said it like a warning when Brenna started to walk closer to the group.  Brenna glared at her once, before continuing.  She did this to her own mother.  Dominique… Dominique deserved better than this.  

"You're hurt."  Brenna said softly while staring at the woman that had taken care of her for the past months.  Dominique was just watching her as quietly as the others for a moment.  Brenna hated seeing her so helpless, being held to the ground.  This woman was invincible, she wasn't supposed to ever be helpless like this.

"Brenna, what they told you..."  Dominique started quickly, as if she were afraid the others would interrupt.  "I told you not to believe everything."  Brooklyn snorted.

Brenna wanted to talk about this, but not with Dominique like this.  "Let her up."  She spoke quietly and when neither male listened to her she turned to glare at Goliath.  They were doing this because of Brenna, so she had the right to tell them to stop.  "Let Her Up!"  She demanded more firmly while glaring.  Dominique just wanted to get to Brenna.  It was this clan that turned it into a fight, and it didn't need to be.  

"No, she could get away."  Goliath informed her before looking past her.  "Lexington, get some chains."

"Goliath, what are you doing?"  Elisa spoke while moving closer to Brenna.

"She's the clans responsibility."

Brenna's eyes widened as she realized he really thought he could lock Dominique up.  She moved quickly to shove Brooklyn off of the prone female, but he barely budged.  "GET AWAY FROM HER!"  She yelled when she realized pushing wouldn't do it.

********

Demona watched as Brenna tried to push Brooklyn away.  Brenna was actually still trying to defend her after the clan had told all their stories.  

Brenna continued to shove at Brooklyn and Demona could have finished the job of getting up, if she weren't worried that a battle started this close to the girl would get Brenna hurt.  "Brenna, you can't fight them.  You aren't strong enough."  Demona spoke softly, worried that Brooklyn might make a careless move.  "You'll get hurt."

"We don't go around beating on kids Demona."  Brooklyn growled at her, while trying to ignore the fact that for once Brenna wasn't listening to Demona and continued to try and push him off of her.  Goliath's hold on Demona tightened to make up for the fact that Brooklyn's hold might not be stable.

"Brenna, I can't fight them with you this close."  Demona finally snapped at the girl.  She had a plan to escape, but it wouldn't work if the girl was in the middle of the targets.

"What?"  Angela finally spoke and she sounded shocked.

"Angela, get her out of here."  Demona finally addressed her daughter, hoping that concern for Brenna would win through Angela's distrust long enough for Demona to call for her reinforcements. 

********

Elisa watched Demona's eyes and could see she had a plan.  Something dangerous enough that Brenna needed to be taken away first.  

She felt like swearing when Angela pulled Brenna away and Elisa couldn't warn them.  Demona moved her head and their eyes met before the gargoyle smirked at Elisa and winked.  Taunting her.  Elisa took a step forward ready to yell out a warning, but nothing came out.  Demona mouthed an order.  Stay still.  Why wasn't anyone noticing their interaction?  Elisa glanced up at Goliath helplessly and he was watching Brenna struggling in Angela's arms with a confused and concerned expression on his face.

She stood still and watched the large robot fly over the wall.  It bigger than Goliath and had guns pointed at the males holding Demona down.  "I believe you better let me go, or it will open fire.  It can't kill me."  Demona taunted the clan and Elisa could see Goliath debating about it.

"Just let her go."  She pleaded, because she could tell that Demona meant it.  Demona would be willing to take a bunch of bullets to get free, and Elisa couldn't stop it.  "She means it Goliath."

"I do mean it Goliath."  Demona's voice was teasing and she obviously knew she had the upper hand for the moment.  He took his hands off of her like he was disgusted by her.  Demona sat up and looked at Brenna.  The others were standing tensely waiting for the attack.  "I just want Brenna and we will leave."

"What if she doesn't want to go with you?"  Brooklyn hissed at her.

"Dominique?"  The girl was staring at the robot and then back at Demona.  She looked confused.

"Come on Brenna.  We need to leave."

Xanatos landed on the castle wall nearby and held a gun on the robot.  He looked more than ready to fight.  "Brenna might be caught in the crossfire Xanatos.  Are you really willing to risk her life like that?"  Demona growled at him, clearly displeased.

"And are you?"  He spoke coldly and Elisa could see Demona's secret weapon was losing its fearsomeness.  If Demona wasn't actually willing to risk Brenna's life its threat was empty.  And sadly if Demona cared enough about the girl to not want to risk her she could lose her.

"I'm not foolish enough to think the clan would allow you to take that risk."  Demona spoke smoothly as she continued to walk towards Brenna.  "And you surely don't plan to shoot me in front of my child do you?  She doesn't take that well."

********

Dominique was walking slowly towards her and Brenna didn't know what to think.  Dominique was tense and dangerous looking.  The clan were all standing ready to lunge at her.  Angela was holding Brenna's arm tightly and didn't seem inclined to let her go.

"Brenna."  Dominique said it warningly.

"I didn't come here on purpose."  Brenna said softly.  "I tried to have her let me off on the street."  She didn't want Dominique's anger on her, not when she had just seen Dominique fight.  She could be scary if she wanted to be.

Dominique's voice softened just a little.  "I know it isn't your fault Brenna."  She then turned glowing eyes to the gargoyle holding Brenna still, Angela.  "You've lost.  Release her."

"Mother I…"

"You said I had no daughter!"  Dominique's voice was suddenly loud and growling.  Brenna flinched just a little at the glare even going in her direction.  "But you are wrong… I have Brenna.  Release her Angela.  I don't want to hurt you."  Brenna felt Angela's hand clench painfully tight on her upper arm and hissed in pain a second before Angela's hand fell away.  Brenna felt a weak smile come to her lips.  Dominique cared enough about her to stand up to Angela… cared enough to call her a daughter.  If she'd had any doubts about Dominique really caring about her they vanished.  The clan didn't know… they were wrong, Dominique really did care.

Brenna glanced back to see Angela staring at Dominique like she'd suddenly started to glow or something else strange.  Brenna then turned to Dominique.  She may have done all those things, but she had to have a reason.  Brenna took a step closer.

"Brenna you don't have to do this.  We can protect you from her."  Brooklyn spoke quickly while moving a step in her direction.  

"I don't need protection from her."  Brenna turned to face the immobile clan.  That robot Dominique had brought did look pretty dangerous.  "She's my family."  

She then moved easily to Dominique's side.  "I want to go home."

"Of course."  Dominique then turned to smirk at Goliath.  "Me and my human are leaving now.  You'll do well to stay away from her in the future or I won't be so gentle."  Brenna looked at the bruised and cut clan and figured Dominique was being sarcastic, because it looked like the clan was going to need medical help.  Broadway was still unconscious even.

********

Demona picked Brenna up and noticed the girl didn't flinch.  The clan had to have surely painted her in the worst light, and her child still chose to come home with her.  They took off and Demona left her guard behind, knowing it would most likely be destroyed.  It was a very expensive piece of equipment.  Demona looked down into the eyes of the confused girl in her arms, but not worth what she would have had to trade for it.  

"I tried to call you several times."  Brenna was nervous.  She thought she was in trouble.

"It's okay."  Demona pulled the girl a little closer.  "It wasn't your fault.  They tricked you."  Brenna didn't even know the extent that she'd been tricked yet, but Demona would have to tell her.

********

Elisa just stared after the two leaving.  Many eyes were on them, and when Brooklyn made a motion to give chase she had to speak.  "Brenna made her choice.  We did everything we could, and she made her choice.  Chasing after them now will do nothing but risk Demona dropping her."

"She's got to be brainwashed!"  Brooklyn wasn't taking this well.  

"Or mother really does love her."  Angela spoke as if she was just realizing it, and Elisa remembered that shocked feeling.  "I think she does."

"A human."  Goliath moved to stand when the robot did as Demona had promised, and just glided away.  No one was in the mood to chase after it.  "Demona may actually care for a human."

Elisa wanted to tell them that just because Demona cared for that one human didn't mean anyone was safer, but didn't even try.  It went without saying. 

"What's that noise?"  Lex moved to follow a sound and Elisa went with him.  Just around the corner they saw a square box shaped robot with eight thin cord like legs attached to the castle wall, drilling.  "It's one of those robots she had."

Elisa felt a hand fall on her shoulder and glanced back to see Goliath standing behind her looking at the robot as well.  Xanatos' voice interrupted the staring that everyone was doing.  The robot was just working on drilling a small hole.  "Those are mining robots.  Maybe it thinks there's coal in the castle."

Brooklyn walked up to it and smashed it against the wall it had been working on.  It crumpled like an aluminum can.  

********

Brenna found that her eyes would glance everywhere in the room but at the woman with her.  She didn't know what to say about what she'd learned.  She couldn't say it was okay, because it wasn't.  She wanted to know why.  Why did Dominique do that?

"It's late."  Dominique spoke calmly while staring at Brenna.  Brenna could feel the eyes on her and finally looked up.

"I don't think I can sleep."  No, not after the night she'd had.  Her brain felt like it would melt down from everything she'd learned and saw.

"I'm not going to apologize for my past."  Dominique glared at her.  "I did what I thought was right."

Brenna could practically feel the anger coming off Dominique in waves.  "I… I…"  She took a deep breath.  She hadn't said anything about that yet.  She hadn't wanted to talk about this with the audience, but bringing it up now was a bit scary.  "I'm gonna get something to eat."  Not that she was very hungry, but she wasn't ready to sleep, and wondered if she would be at all tonight.

When she went to walk past Dominique the redhead reached out to grab her arm and Brenna hissed in pain.  "What is it?  Are you hurt?"  Dominique let go quickly but she started to pull the sleeve of Brenna's shirt up.  Brenna stared down at the bruises.  She didn't even remember getting them.  The hand print was obviously not human and was over her upper arm.  

********

Demona stared at Brenna's fragile skin and moved her own hand over the hand print there.  It was almost the same size.  "Angela did this to you."  She whispered.

"I'm sure it was an accident."  Brenna whispered and Demona tilted her head a little to look into the girl's face.  She was hurting from more than this bruise.  Brenna idolized Angela, talked about her like she was a movie star.  Tonight had to be hard for her.  They'd used Brenna's love of Angela against her tonight.  Demona hadn't thought Goliath could be so manipulative.

"Okay.  Make me something too."  Demona said absently and watched Brenna leave the room.  Angela had been shocked when Demona said that comment about not having a daughter.  She regretted it a bit now.  She didn't really want to alienate Angela, but she'd been angry when she saw Angela keeping Brenna from her.

Well, one good thing about the entire mess is she got to test that spell on Maza, and it worked well.  Maza knew when she had plans and hadn't been able to warn anyone.  She also didn't tell anyone about that spell.  A slight grin came to Demona's face.  That spell was going to be fun.  Perhaps she should look Maza up soon and show the detective the extent of her control.

When she finally came downstairs Brenna was fumbling around with the glasses.  She seemed uncoordinated and jumpy.  Demona sat down at the kitchen island slowly and just watched the human girl.  "What did they tell you?"  She spoke clearly and hadn't thought she'd snuck into the kitchen but Brenna tensed up, startled.  The girl was really deep in thought.

Brenna's wide eyes just staring at her while Brenna struggled with what to say told Demona everything she needed to know.  Brenna believed what she'd been told, and she'd been told some things Demona would have preferred she didn't know for a few more years.  Her plan to slowly let the girl in on her past and her beliefs were shot because Goliath and the clan couldn't just leave them alone.

Still this little human was here with her.  Demona continued to stare, giving none of her thoughts away, and Brenna look flustered and embarrassed.  "What did they tell you?"  She repeated calmly.  It was time for damage control and showing how much the clan pissed her off by going behind her back and telling Brenna these things wouldn't help to ease Brenna's mind.  

She also needed to find out if Brenna could deal with this, or if…  Demona grimaced.  Brenna wasn't going to be considered a threat.  

********

Brenna didn't even know where to start on this.  She'd been told so much.  "Would you really have shot them?"

"What?"  Dominique was sounding a little impatient.

"The clan.  Would you have really shot them if they didn't give up?"

"They kidnapped you Brenna, and they weren't going to give you back."  Dominique motioned to the seat next to her and Brenna moved to take it.  "I don't make threats I won't follow through on.  If you do that in any battle your enemy won't respect your threats and you'll be forced to follow through on them more often after that to make up for it."

"So…"  Brenna's eyebrows drew together a bit.  She hadn't expected Warrior 101 when she asked the question.  "You would have shot them."

Dominique looked her right in the eye.  "Yes, I would have shot them if they didn't give you back to me, and I would have shot them rather than get locked up when I need to be out and doing the paperwork and attending the appointments I need to in order to adopt you."

Brenna didn't know what to say to that.  Thank you for being willing to kill for me wasn't right and Brenna wasn't comfortable with the fact that Dominique had been willing to do that.  "They said you tried to kill off humans… all of them."  Brenna spoke quietly, unable to look Dominique in the face when she said that.

"And you plan to judge me for that."  Dominique's voice rose.  "I did what I had to in order to try and save my race from humans slaughtering all of us."  Brenna flinched when Dominique's hand came down loudly on the counter.  "You know what humans are like.  You know they can't even accept their own… and they'll never accept us."

Brenna looked up at that, and the nagging feeling that Dominique had actually included her in the us didn't go away.  Dominique's eyes were burning and her face was more expressive.  "The clan probably told you that we are supposed to protect the humans, that it is the gargoyles nature… but that is not true.  Why should we protect our very executioners?  It's madness.  We need to protect ourselves first and foremost, but Goliath risks the clan all the time to protect the humans that turn on them."  Dominique got up suddenly and started pacing the kitchen floor.  Brenna just sat quietly and listened, because interrupting her looked like a bad idea.  "Humans…"  Dominique said that with more hatred than Brenna had heard her ever use before.  "spread across this planet like vermin…"  Her burning eyes stared right at Brenna and still didn't seem to acknowledge her.  "destroying any clans that they discover, to the point that there are less than a handful of gargoyles left.  If they aren't stopped I'll be the last one… I went so many years thinking I was the last one, and I am not about to let the HUMANS win.  I wasn't willing to do that when I thought I was all that remained, and I am not willing to do that now that I have two daughters to protect."

Brenna opened her mouth briefly, but closed it slowly.  It was probably better to take her honorary gargoyle status than bring up the fact she wasn't right now.  Dominique looked a bit too angry at humans.  Dominique stopped pacing and stared at her.  "You know more about this than Goliath or the clan.  Can you say I'm wrong?  Can you sit there and tell me that the humans won't try to kill off every gargoyle they find if given a chance?"

Brenna just blinked for a moment and her heart beat a bit faster when she realized Dominique expected an answer.  "Umm…"  She swallowed hard.  "Yeah, some humans probably would."  She knew it was true, the Quarrymen were example enough.

"Exactly!"  Dominique waved her arms in the air.  "They would, and you can see that, while Goliath, who lived through the destruction of our clan… destruction caused by humans, cannot."  Brenna just sat really still and waited for hurricane Dominique to calm down a bit more.  She sure was passionate about her beliefs.  "He claims his human allies will help him change this world… but human allies are more likely to turn on him if the path he chose is too hard.  I've been there.  They'll betray him eventually.  Humans always betray."  

********

Demona felt caged as she paced the floor explaining herself, but when Brenna whispered a few words she found her pacing stopped instantly.  "I'd never betray you."  She turned to see Brenna was a little pale and looked really concerned.  Demona suddenly realized she'd brought up the same points she'd tried to bring up with Angela, only this daughter was human.  Oh.  She'd somehow forgot that in all of this.

"I know you wouldn't."  Demona spoke a bit more gently.  If she'd done this to try and salvage their relationship, then having Brenna think she didn't trust her definitely wouldn't help.  "You aren't like the rest of them Brenna."  Demona moved closer and slowly reached out to caress Brenna's hair.  Brenna looked like any sudden movements would startle her, like a frightened doe.  "You are special, so much more than the rest of your race."  She moved a bit closer and pulled Brenna into a hug, and was relieved when the girl leaned into it.  She'd never tried to explain this to a human before.  

"I don't want the gargoyles to die."  Brenna spoke so softly.  Demona grimaced.  She needed to work on a gentler way to tell the child these things.  Brenna was far too sensitive.  

"I know you don't Brenna.  Your different."  Demona pulled back and looked into misty eyes.  "You're practically a gargoyle."  She gave Brenna a small smirk and the girl seemed to sit up a little straighter.  It was really a shame Brenna was born human, she would have been one of the best gargoyles Demona had ever seen.

"Now lets eat, so you can get some sleep.  It's almost dawn."

********

Brenna was sitting at her desk working on her homework for her summer internship when Dominique walked into her bedroom.  "Brenna we need to talk."  Dominique sounded very focused and a bit irritated.  

"Yeah?"  Brenna was trying to think of what she could have done to upset Dominique, but she couldn't come up with anything.

"I need to know what you know about your father."  Dominique's eyes narrowed, "No lies… no leaving things out.  I need to know everything."

Brenna set her pen down and turned to face Dominique.  "Why?"  Was she giving up on them?  Did she still want to pawn Brenna off on someone else?

"Because I have heard that Xanatos thinks he can find him.  Because if he succeeds, your father could stop this whole adoption."

"Oh God."

"Brenna?"  Dominique pulled up another chair and sat down beside Brenna.  She sounded a little concerned now, a little more gentle.

"Mom had an affair with her boss."  She was going to have to tell Dominique everything and hope the woman could fix this, because if Xanatos thought he could find the father then he must know.  "She quit and didn't tell him about me, because she didn't like him anymore.  He was only after money and power and would have been a horrible father."

"Okay, that gives me something to work with."  Dominique moved to rest a hand over Brenna's.  

"What are we gonna do?"

"We're going to find out who he is and then come up with a plan."

Brenna looked up into Dominique's face.  She wasn't feeling so well right now.  "I think it's Mr. Xanatos."  Dominique seemed to actually flinch at that.  Not a good sign.

"I'll do a little research and come up with something."  Dominique stood up and placed a hand on Brenna's shoulder.  "I'll take care of this."

********

Well, the spell on Elisa had already proven to be invaluable.  Demona sat in the waiting room of the doctor's office while the court ordered test was being done.  Xanatos had used his power to make sure that once the papers were delivered Demona had to deliver Brenna immediately for this procedure, most likely to make sure her scientists didn't come up with some way to change the results.

He came out of a room rolling down one of his sleeves.  Blood tests.  The smirk on his face told Demona that he really thought he'd won.  "The results aren't in yet Xanatos."  Brenna was in another room getting her own blood drawn.  "Must be hard to not know how many humans you spawned."  Her voice was thick with scorn.  "Better watch out for this one Fox…"  Demona barely glanced at the now angry looking redhead sitting across from her.  "He can't keep it in his pants while at work."

Fox almost said something but the other door opened and a pale and nervous looking Brenna came out.  Demona noticed the girl glare at both Fox and Xanatos as she made a wide circle around them, as if afraid they'd grab her and try and run for it.  Brenna hadn't taken the news that Fox was in that exosuit that chased her and Angela well.  

"Brenna if I'm your father…"  Xanatos started and before Demona could interrupt him Brenna's spoke, her voice filled with more venom than Dominique had ever heard in it before.

"IF you are my father, then you are the man that my mother NEVER wanted me to have anything to do with.  IF you take me away from home I'll hate you forever, and I'll move right back in with Dominique as soon as I turn 18."

Xanatos actually looked a bit taken aback by that.  Good girl, she knows how to hit below the belt.  "Oh and what about college?"

"There are lots of colleges in New York."  Brenna reached out and took her hand.  "I want to go to one that lets me stay near my family."  A slight smirk crossed Demona's face at that.  That had actually been a concern of hers, but Brenna was just saying it didn't have to be.

They turned to leave, but Demona could hear Fox standing up behind her.  "Brenna…"

Brenna stopped their walking and Demona looked at the girl.  Oh she looked angry.  "You fucking shot at me Fox.  You fucking shot at me."  Demona then found herself trailing after an angry quickly marching teenager as they left the clinic.  Oh, Xanatos didn't have a chance in hell with this girl, and he did it all himself, him and his wife.

********

Elisa walked down the hallway, her footsteps echoing loudly in the dark deserted building.  The clan was keeping watch for Demona on the outside.  None of them wanted Demona tampering with the paternity test samples, because it was the only card they now held to get Brenna away from Demona.  Even though Demona loved the girl, most of the clan… and most importantly, Goliath, thought it wouldn't take much for Demona to turn on the girl.  Elisa felt some of his opinion was based on how Demona had turned on him.  Elisa had tried to talk them out of it, but at the risk of being suspicious, had to finally give in.

She'd thought about it and was torn as to what would be best for Brenna, to be with Xanatos or Demona.  Demona already had the girl's loyalty and love, but she was so unstable.  Brenna hated Xanatos now as much as Elisa had before he started to change.  In the end it wasn't her decision.  Elisa's fists clenched.  All important decisions regarding Brenna had to be Demona's, and she'd been forced to call Demona and warn her that Xanatos thought he found the father.  At first she hadn't realized Xanatos thought it could be himself.  That had been a shock.

Another shock was Demona's orders for this.  Apparently Demona believed Xanatos.  Brenna was his.  The clan had the means to get Brenna away from Demona.

Elisa slipped into a lab and reached into her pocket.  When she found the correct vial she pulled out another that looked just like it.  They knew Xanatos wasn't Elisa's father… so now medical science was going to prove that.  "Great, now I'm even giving her my blood."  Elisa muttered a bit angrily.  The security camera here was taken out for a very brief time so Elisa moved quickly.

"Hey… Hey Elisa?"  Lexington's voice came across her comm. set.

"Yeah Lex?"

"Could you check out the lab… I lost feed."

"Sure, no problem."  Elisa told him.  She was already there.

**EPILOGUE:**

Brenna sat in her first class of the school year quietly talking to Lily.  "Brenna Destine-McCullen"  The teacher called out and Brenna glanced up at her.  It was still strange to hear that.  She'd only had that name a couple of weeks.

"Here."  She'd moved up the alphabet with the name change.

"I hear you joined our Career Committee this year."  Ms. Leonhart smiled crookedly at her.  "I'm sure we'll be pleased to have you."  The teacher then started to work on completing roll.

"So you took her name."  Lily whispered to her.  Brenna hadn't seen the girl all summer.

"Yeah."  Brenna still felt a bit self-conscious about that, but she was so sure she did the right thing.  Dominique had actually looked proud when she did it.

********

Elisa sat in front of the phone and picked it up.  She purposely ignored the lack of dial tone and dialed Demona's number.  She was supposed to report in when Goliath and her finally made love, even though it was of no real… importance to Demona.  It was just a way to humiliate Elisa and make her feel like even her most private moments weren't her own.  Demona had told her to talk to the machine if she weren't there, because she wanted the news as soon as she left his bed for the day.  A telephone was a machine as well and Elisa reported the change in her and Goliath's relationship to her dead phone and felt the compulsion lessen.  She hung up, and then picked up the phone and shoved it back into her cupboard.  Apparently her broken phone did end up being useful.  A small smile crossed her lips.  Demona's control wasn't as absolute as she claimed.  Elisa finally had something to work with.  Demona was getting less specific in her instructions as she felt confident Elisa couldn't disobey, and that gave Elisa the leeway she needed.

_The End_

_(Probably not forever though)_


	11. Separated Part 1

Separated

By Princess Alexandria

Elisa pulled her coat tighter as she stood on the rooftop and stared at the sky. In the city the stars rarely came out, and as she searched she couldn't find one. Taking a deep breath she glanced down at Cagney and gave her cat a weak smile. "Well girl, what do you think, inside now?" Elisa glanced at the lights of her apartment and sighed. She'd just gotten home from work and the case she'd had haunted her. She normally needed some quiet time after a case like that.

She had no idea how parents could just toss their child out onto the streets, where he could only sell his body to survive. It had been horrible to arrest the teenage boy for prostitution, when she realized how thin he was and how his clothes were worn. Hopefully child services could help him, but his childhood was forever gone.

She was almost to her door when she heard the swish of wings. Part of her relaxed, imagining who she'd see when she turned around, but that clenched tightly in her chest as she took in the red hair and blue skin of Demona. Elisa cursed her luck mentally, but she just opened her door and slipped inside to the warmth, leaving it open for Demona.

"What do you want Demona?" Elisa asked flatly, her voice weary. In the months she'd been under this spell she'd been asked to spy on the clan, on Xanatos, and to donate her blood to keep the clan from finding out they had all they needed to get custody of Brenna away from Demona. She's been forced to lie to the courts and say Demona would be a wonderful mother, and her word as a police officer seemed to push the adoption right through. Each time Demona came with a demand Elisa felt caged. She did what she could and Demona was getting careless enough for Elisa to work around some commands, but she was still caged and angry.

"I have to leave the country for business, starting next week." Demona told her and Elisa just crossed her arms in front of her wondering why that was worth visiting Elisa for. Surely Demona didn't want to just tell Elisa she had a guaranteed break from Demona's orders. "Brenna cannot miss two weeks of school, and I can't leave her alone for that long."

Elisa blinked as the path of this conversation started to seem clear. "I work nights." Demona's smirk wasn't comforting. "And I see the clan at night." Elisa tried to beat the order coming out of Demona's mouth, to make her consider this.

"Well, you will have to make up something, because you will be staying with Brenna." Demona looked so amused and Elisa struggled with the fact she had one week to re-arrange her entire life. "You will make sure she is healthy, happy and safe. You will stay with her while she isn't in school or at work. You will not endanger my custody of her in any way. You will make sure the clan doesn't find out about our arrangement, and you will never tell Brenna WHY you are helping us. My child is remarkably well behaved, which is a shame because I would love for her to torment you."

Elisa felt the compulsion of the order and grimaced. This was not going to go over well with her boss, one weeks notice. She'd have to lie to a lot of people. "She doesn't trust me." She spoke quietly, imagining how Brenna would take this. She really was an innocent in it all and Elisa would gladly protect her, but part of that would be getting her out of there, and that wasn't possible now, not with the wording of the order. "It'll be a bit hard to keep her happy if she's afraid."

Demona frowned and Elisa watched how her words affected the gargoyle. It was still stunning at times to watch Demona actually care about someone. "I will take care of that. I leave in a week, so be prepared to meet her after she gets off work in front of my company to take her home."

"Why not your driver?" Elisa asked and Demona glared at her.

"I would never trust a human I don't control to protect her. You will die to keep her safe if you need to, I know that much because I order you to." Demona growled out and then moved to leave. Her amused "Ciao" brought back memories of an attempt on Elisa's life, back when life was simple and this enemy only wanted to kill her.

Demona glided up higher as she considered the caretaker she'd just acquired. It was very satisfying and handy to be able to order Elisa like this, and in spite of her feelings about the human, Demona knew that Elisa would be able to handle just about any trouble that could come up while Demona was away.

Still, that comment about Brenna being afraid of Elisa did bother Demona. She frowned as she found a strong current to help her get home faster as she considered that. Brenna hadn't seen Elisa since that night the clan kidnapped her, and Demona had warned her so many times in the past to avoid Elisa. Demona sighed heavily as she realized she'd need to do more than just tell Brenna that Elisa was going to be staying with her while Demona was away.

The glide seemed to take little time and Demona slowly descended toward her home, noticing the light was on in Brenna's room. Demona landed softly on Brenna's small balcony and glanced into the window. Demona wrapped her wings around herself as she watched Brenna working on the computer. She smiled as she watched the child waiting so impatiently for a webpage to load, her knee and leg were in constant motion as Brenna waited. If she didn't know better, she'd say Brenna had inherited Demona's lack of patience.

Demona was about to step into the room, when she noticed Brenna glance at the door before looking back at the computer. Demona paused and her smile faded as she felt a familiar suspicion. Brenna was too impatient, and she glanced at the door again, which made Demona think she didn't want to get caught. Demona frowned.

She pushed the door opened and pretended to not notice the panicked way Brenna closed the internet browser. "Finish your homework?" Demona asked, but she did notice the blush on the teenager's cheeks. It made her even more curious about what Brenna was up to, but she held her tongue.

"Yeah," Brenna gave a very brief answer and Demona watched the girl's eyes widen a moment. "I could start dinner."

"I thought it was my turn." Demona said, but she smiled her approval, and watched as Brenna darted away to start cooking and to avoid talking. "Child, you are a horrible liar." Demona whispered as she heard Brenna walking down the stairs and moved closer to the computer to see what Brenna had been up to.

Demona sat, careful of her wings and tail, and pulled up the internet browser. She gave a grim smile as she opened up the history cache and then her eyes didn't blink as she jotted down web addresses on a spare sheet of paper to pull up later. She'd look now, but she didn't want Brenna to learn about the history left on her computer after she browsed, it was Demona's only way to monitor the girl's computer use.

Demona had already given the firm lecture about talking to strangers online, as she had the computer hooked up to the internet, but looking at the names of the websites she had in her hand now, perhaps it was time for another conversation. Demona grimaced as she folded up her night's research and tucked it into a hidden pocket in her loincloth.

Demona slowly left the room and descended the stairs, but her mind was on the computer. Brenna was still so young, too young for what she seemed to be looking up. Demona listened to the pot clang and the whispered 'sorry' Brenna gave to the quiet kitchen, not even a person there, and Brenna apologized for being clumsy.

…………………………..

Demona stood in the kitchen doorway and watched Brenna, looking more carefully than she normally did and comparing what she saw to the girl she'd met ten months ago. Brenna was wearing jeans and a green tshirt. She didn't have endless piercings in her ears, because once she'd taken them out to let them heal over for the adoption hearing she hadn't put them back.

Demona's eyes traveled over Brenna's hair as Brenna focused on cutting some vegetables. Did Brenna miss her old hairstyle, Demona wondered as she took in the boyish cut that was actually much longer than the hair had been on the sides. Brenna was letting it grow out and the top had been cut shorter to make it blend. At the moment her hair made her look more like Xanatos than ever before, a resemblance that Demona hadn't seen until it was pointed out. The hair was a problem. Demona grimaced, now considering whether there really was a hair growing spell, to push Brenna past this current dangerous resemblance. She really didn't want Xanatos to look into the blood test that Demona made the Detective fix for her. She didn't want another push to take her child away from her.

Brenna's delicate features had developed a more adult cast to them. Demona stared at Brenna concentrated on her task, taking in the cheek bones, and the narrow shoulders. As Brenna turned to put the broccoli in the pot on the stove, Demona took in the more womanly curves, still small, but no longer just budding. Her child was getting older, her body getting ahead of her. Demona grimaced, considering this. Human's aged so fast, too fast, and their bodies developed well before their minds. It caused so many of the problems the race had.

"I was thinking chicken." Brenna spoke, clearly realizing finally that she wasn't alone in the room. That was another issue Demona had with her child, the child was so vulnerable, so unprepared for the dangers of the world. She hadn't even seen Demona come in, hadn't been paying attention.

"That sounds good." Demona offered as she stepped further into the room and sat at the kitchen table. Brenna gave her a questioning look, but then moved to the fridge to get the chicken. "I was thinking you should start taking some sort of martial art. You need to learn to protect yourself, as best as you can." And without wings, talons, how good would that be? Demona had seen stories of young girls being horribly betrayed as they explored their sexuality and she was not willing to let Brenna go any longer without learning how to protect herself. Demona wanted Brenna protected from the humans, but her human child was much more surrounded by the enemy than Angela ever would be. And Brenna was so much more fragile. Demona's heart ached as she considered that.

Brenna gave her a questioning, confused look. "I'm not all that coordinated."

"You'll learn." Demona spoke more firmly, wishing she could just take care of the threat herself, but she was currently at a loss as to how to do that. Any ideas she'd had involved magic or science, of which neither would discriminate between the hateful humans and her child. "I'll arrange for lessons to start when I get back from Paris."

"Paris?" Brenna put the chicken down and turned wide eyes to Demona, and Demona mentally rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. She hadn't told Brenna about Paris yet.

Brenna felt her heart sinking as Dominique appeared to stare at her a moment. "I have to travel to Paris for business; I'll be away for two weeks." In her mind Brenna quickly considered what all she had going on at school. "I've arranged for someone to stay with you."

"What?" Brenna stared in surprise at Dominique said that. "Who?" There wasn't anyone the gargoyle would trust, Brenna knew that much. Brenna felt herself paling at the thought of Dominique being away for so long, without anyone to patch her up if she got hurt. "I could go with you." Brenna spoke softly, a touch of pleading in her voice.

"You have school. I can't pull you from classes for every trip." Dominique's voice was firm, but Brenna gave her pleading eyes anyhow. "Brenna, school is important if you want to get into a good college."

Brenna couldn't disagree with that, but she still felt her heart drop into her stomach. "But you might need me."

Demona could see how pale the child was and instead of snapping at her to just do as she was told, Demona took a deep breath and moved closer to Brenna. "I've been alive for a very long time Brenna. I can survive a few weeks without you," she noticed the hurt look in the girl's eyes and added more softly, "even if I will miss you." Demona reached out and caressed Brenna's hair gently. "It will be okay." The poor child still needed these reassurances. It was a bit disturbing actually to see how scared Brenna was of losing her Demona thought as she pulled her child into a hug.

Demona started to help Brenna make dinner, and after a long silence the girl spoke. "Who am I staying with?" Demona had been waiting for that question, but she wasn't sure, after the Detective's comment, how it would be taken.

"She will be staying with you. I don't want your life more disrupted than it has to be." Demona spoke firmly about that. "Besides, I have security here and she has too many unannounced visitors." Demona hissed, thinking of the clan dropping by Maza's place while Brenna was there. "Detective Maza will take good care of you." Demona said and watched as Brenna's body froze, her eyes widening. Damn, it looked like Maza was right. Demona sighed heavily and prepared herself to reassure Brenna yet again.

It would be so much easier if Brenna just trusted that she was safe, but Demona understood why the girl would doubt such things. The last year had been difficult on her.

"The Detective has seen the error of her ways." Demona did her best to not smirk at that, and focused on Brenna. "She actually gave testimony for us during the adoption." Brenna hadn't been there for that, as Demona wasn't sure how many witnesses she wanted to her having control over Maza. "She offered to switch her shift and be here, but she is just protection. You don't have to talk with her if you don't want to. You don't have to be polite." Even giving Brenna permission to be rude, there was little chance she would be.

"But, are you sure?" Brenna sounded stunned, scared.

"She'll be trustworthy, and I'll call and talk with you often." Demona nodded confidently.

After dinner they sat to watch a movie and Demona subtly watched the child, considering the websites the girl was looking at. It was too late tonight to talk about this, but they'd need to. Demona wasn't really sure how to approach that without horribly embarrassing Brenna. Humans didn't talk openly about such things, which Demona thought was just more proof how idiotic they were. Still, she needed to consider how to approach the topic with Brenna so as not to distress the girl.

The next morning Demona watched from the car as Brenna walked into school, but her teeth clenched as she wondered if some child in there was the reason her own child was suddenly thinking about sex. It wasn't a comforting thought. She practically growled at Gregory to drive as she stared stonily at the other teenagers walking into the school.

She took a deep breath and stared down at the paperwork she had to read before her meeting that morning, but her mind was still stuck on the images and words she'd seen on the computer after Brenna went to sleep. Human sexuality wasn't as foreign as she thought it would be, but it was disturbing to see, knowing her child had been looking at that. It wasn't right, there had been a sleazy element that didn't exist in gargoyle mating, it made the whole act, which should be a loving one, something perverted and upsetting. Demona wondered if human sexuality really was just as degrading as it looked.

Halfway through her day Demona found her mind still stuck on Brenna and the talk they needed to have. Her meeting had been torture and she sat down heavily in her chair in her office as she tried once again to think of how to bring this up. What should she say? What did humans tell their young? Obviously it was inadequate, but Demona suddenly needed to know. Her own experiences weren't enough to help her understand her child.

Demona needed to know more, understand more about human sexuality. She grimaced as she considered asking her employees, but she had to dismiss that. Humans were dishonest about sexuality to a staggering degree. Demona needed truthful answers. Her eyes traveled to the phone, and she pushed the button for her secretary. "Jane, I don't want to be disturbed for the next hour."

"Yes Ms. Destine." Her young secretary responded and Demona moved her finger from the button, hovering over the phone for a moment before she picked it up.

…………………..

Elisa sat at her dining room table, trying to come up with something she could say to her boss to get the shift change, and she felt a headache forming. Whatever she told Maria, she'd have to tell the clan something else. Then, if she were lucky, because she couldn't do it herself, they'd discover her lie and try and find out what was going on. But even with that plan she found herself having to create plausible stories, because otherwise it would endanger Demona's custody of Brenna and that was one of her orders. Elisa felt like tearing her hair out, because this was an opportunity, she could feel the potential to slip her collar in this, but she couldn't see it yet.

The phone sounded extremely loud in her silent apartment and Elisa debated about answering it, but she just stood up with a heavy sigh and walked over to it. "Hello?"

"Maza, I need some answers." The voice was one she really didn't want to hear and Elisa's hand gripped the phone tighter in irritation. "Truthful answers." Elisa's eyes widened and her heart pounded as she wondered where this was going. "When do humans start having sex?"

"What?" Elisa's voice rose in shock.

"Answer the questions truthfully." Demona sounded irritated to even be asking. Elisa was quiet a moment, trying to accept that she was talking about sex with Demona. It wasn't a conversation she wanted to have. The compulsion forced her to bite back her questions and the sarcastic reply she wanted to give.

"It varies." Elisa felt the compulsion lessen, so she had answered it, but she started to grasp where the question was coming from so she finished on her own. "Some kids start very young and other people are well into adulthood if they ever do have it with someone else."

There was a heavy sigh on the phone and Elisa could almost imagine the look on Demona's face. "How old were you?"

Elisa wanted to say that this question clearly wasn't about her, she didn't want to share her past with this female, but the words came out without a fight, because she knew she couldn't win it. "Sixteen."

"How incompetent were your parents?" Demona seemed to growl that out and Elisa gritted her teeth.

"They weren't, parents can't watch their kids all the time." Elisa bit out with hostility, the question had been rhetorical she was sure, but it was a question so she had to answer.

Demona made a small noise that Elisa took as barely verbal not caring. When the phone went quiet Elisa hoped that Demona was getting ready to hang up. Questions about Elisa's sexuality were dangerous, because if Demona found out Elisa had been with Goliath and hadn't told her Demona would discover the loopholes in her spell. It was that thought that had Elisa trying to take charge of the conversation. "Brenna is dating someone then?"

"No!" The denial was loud and Elisa grimaced at the pain in her ear. After a moment a more quiet, "I don't think so." was heard. "She'd tell me."

"Really?" Some scorn escaped her. "Because I think you'd disapprove of absolutely anyone she'd be interested in, and she probably thinks that too. Chances are she's not going to tell you, you might kill any boy she so much as kisses." Elisa pitied Brenna growing up around Demona. Elisa's father had been tough enough, but Demona really was homicidal. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility she'd kill some boy for touching Brenna someday. "She would have to be afraid to tell you." Elisa spoke more softly.

"My child is not afraid of me." Demona's voice was cold, but Elisa just stayed quiet. The silence spoke volumes about what Elisa thought about that. "She's too young." The subject partially changed.

"I've seen younger." Elisa offered quietly.

"She will not be having sex." It sounded like a declaration. Elisa just shook her head, thinking Demona sounded like so many human parents now, thinking she could just declare that and it would be so.

"Until when Demona? When is she old enough in your eyes?" Elisa asked, suspecting the answer was never.

"This is none of your concern." Demona snapped at her and Elisa went quiet, feeling her suspicion was confirmed. Poor Brenna.

"She's going to fall in love someday Demona, what are you going to do to that poor girl when it happens?" Elisa asked quietly.

After a tense silent moment Demona sounded like she was probably strangling her own phone in her hand. "How do humans talk to their offspring about sex?" It wasn't an answer, but it was a surprise. Elisa leaned back against her kitchen counter and shifted the phone to her other ear for comfort as she considered the question. It sounded like Demona knew she couldn't impose the never have sex rule.

"Every family is different." Elisa said, thinking of the way she had been sat down by her mother for 'the talk', but how her best friend at the time only got it second hand from gossip. "Some say nothing, others stop at a firm 'just don't do it' and mine fortunately told me about birth control."

"Yes, that is fortunate." Demona's slow drawl was an insult and Elisa gritted her teeth as she found herself unable to hang up the phone without permission. "What about when a child could engage in that activity, or how to deal with the mating need before one is old enough to have a partner?"

Elisa felt her cheeks turning hot with embarrassment at the question. "Kids usually hear about masturbation at school from the other kids, or read some naughty magazines to get the idea."

"So that's normal behavior?" Demona sounded a touch relieved and Elisa had a feeling Brenna's secret stash of naughty literature was found.

"I believe it is." Elisa answered a bit subdued, still unhappy with having this talk with Demona.

"So human parents neglect to tell their children of anything important, leave the educating to other children and pornography, and are then surprised when their child becomes pregnant?" Demona's scorn was clear. "This would never happen in a clan. We taught our young about their bodies and sexuality before the flush of first mating desire ever hit."

"Well, it sounds like you forgot to do that for Brenna while you had her." Elisa's voice had a hard edge and she rubbed her free hand over her forehead, wishing for a magical cure for her headache.

"I had assumed a child that age," Demona started to defend herself but then went quiet. "I don't need to answer to you for my false impression that humans could at least handle that much for their offspring. Clearly my former secretary had neglected this part of Brenna's education, just as she neglected to nurture Brenna's mind and let her fester in that disgusting school she used to attend. I will remedy this."

Elisa felt hopeful that Demona would hang up now, because that sounded like the end of the conversation, but then the soft clearing of the throat on the other side of the phone hinted there was more. Elisa sighed and tilted her head back in irritation. "Human children are drawn to their own sex?" The question was softer and Elisa had to replay it in her mind to grasp the topic switch. Her eyes widened.

"Not generally, only a few." Elisa spoke softly, her mind haunting her with the memory of that young man whose family had kicked him out for his own sexuality. "Some people say ten percent, but I've never heard of it being that common." Elisa struggled with what to say. "She may not be, perhaps it's just a phase, or she is curious about her own body."

"Is this denial common human practice?" Demona sounded irritated. "My child was looking at rather graphic images of women together, I think I can safely say it isn't an academic biology curiosity." Demona's voice seemed to growl. "Humans would treat her badly wouldn't they? The stupidity of the race would hurt my child for being one of these ten percent?"

Elisa wanted to deny it, but the compulsion was still in place. "Yes, many would treat her badly, and others would try and ignore her as if her life had little value." As the compulsion lessened Elisa continued to talk, "but not everyone. And many people would never know unless she told them."

"If it is so rare, why didn't she tell me?" Demona sounded a tad lost and Elisa was surprised to feel some empathy for her. "I've told her a few times she had best not get pregnant and she never told me she didn't prefer to mate with males."

"She might be scared, or just trying to understand it herself." Elisa spoke quietly. "I've seen some young runaways, that were more kicked out of their homes than left, because of this. Demona, if you think for a minute you can't accept her, give her up."

"I will not give up MY child." Demona's response was immediate and angry. "She is not defective."

"I never said she was." Elisa sighed, wondering why she was amazed that Demona was more thrown by Brenna's sexuality. "There are support groups."

"There is nothing wrong with her; it's the rest of your lousy race." And then Elisa heard the loud click of the phone being hung up.

Elisa slowly pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it in disbelief for a moment. That conversation had really happened.

The pounding behind her eyes grew as Elisa realized what she was stepping into when she had to watch Brenna for two weeks. If Demona didn't do as she said, and perhaps even if she did, Elisa might end up having to deal with 'the talk' in a way she never had imagined. Someone had to help that girl, and Demona was going to screw this up.

Still, Elisa felt an uneasy feeling that if it had been her that was gay, her own mother never would have handled it as well as Demona seemed to be handling it. She fought the way her mind wondered how Xanatos would have taken the same situation if he'd had custody. Demona didn't want Brenna with anyone, so really the gender of the anyone didn't matter all that much.

Elisa pulled out a glass and poured herself some water, as she tried to concentrate on her lies to the clan and her boss. She had less than a week now. She also should try and find out what she could about gay kids, and maybe she'd give Demona a book or two. It wasn't really for Demona, Brenna deserved all the support she could get.


End file.
